Author's Note: I'm literally putting this here to make sure the title of the chapter does not get misaligned.
Enjoy!
Chapter 6:
The Ghost and The Gunslinger
Specter timidly knocked on the door to the Faculty Lounge, hoping no one but his sister was inside. When he heard no answer, he tested the doorknob to see if it was locked. It wasn't.
With a sigh, he pushed into the room and gingerly closed the door behind him. He had been in here before, often when he was younger and his parents had to take him to work with them. The chairs, the tables, the coffeemaker; everything looked the way it did way back then, if a little more modern.
He found his sister asleep on a sofa under the large rectangular mirror on the right wall, her drool seeping into the fabric as she snored.
Gross, he thought to himself. I hope I don't do that in my sleep…
With all the caution of a zookeeper trying to clean the den of a slumbering bear, Specter made his way over, trying to ignore the coldness of the Reaper can in his hand. He crouched down beside her, thinking over the best way to wake her up without compelling her to choke him out. After several minutes of debating, he shrugged to himself in defeat and pressed the can against her forehead, hoping the cold would be enough to rouse her.
Slowly but surely, her eyes fluttered open. "The fuck?" she said groggily, looking around to find herself in unfamiliar territory. "Why am I in here?"
"'Cause sleeping in here is better than trying to sleep on the balconies," Specter said flatly.
"Ugh, why did you wake me up?"
"'Cause we have shit to do."
She sat up and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. "The fight?"
"Yeah, the fight."
"Shit," she groaned. "I'm not ready for that."
Specter held up the can of Reaper Energy. "With this, you will be."
"Fuck…is that blood cherry?"
"Your favorite."
"Fuckin' A…" she looked at him as though he was holding a solid gold bar. "You're a good big brother."
"Have to be every once in a while," he said as he lightly bonked her on the head with the can. "Now drink up. We're on in less than five."
A small crowd had gathered towards the front doors of the DWMA, mostly comprised of E.A.T. students who had money on the duel that was about to take place in the courtyard. At the front of the crowd was Kilik-sensei, flanked as always by Fire and Thunder, as well as Liz Thompson, who was trying her best not to laugh out loud as she heard her sister and Specter's mother bickering through the mirror she was holding up. Allie stood at the center of the courtyard, impatiently tapping her foot while her partner Flint whistled some sort of saloon song to himself.
Allie's eyes flicked to him for a moment. He was about her height, but a few years older, with skin tanned and weathered by the sun and shaggy, wind-tossed dark hair he shrouded with a black leather cowboy hat. She didn't know how he could stand the heat wearing that all-black spaghetti western outfit he had on, but she had to suppose he was used to it.
He regarded her with those handsome dark eyes of his. "Think he's chickenin' out?" he asked, his thick Texas drawl giving a unique tone and cadence to the phrase.
"Who, Spec? Doubt it. He's probably just shakin' his sister awake so they can get their asses down here and get this over with."
"What makes you so sure?"
"He spit shake on it," she said with a grin.
"That'll do," he said as he absent-mindedly played with the spur on the back of one of his boots.
Suddenly, heads turned in the crowd as someone made their way towards the courtyard, getting the attention of Liz and Kilik-sensei. Allie smiled as Specter and Nina emerged from the swarm and onto the battlefield. Specter was rubbing the back of his head, lazily eyeing the crowd, while Nina walked straight ahead, an intense, almost malicious energy in her eyes.
"Don't tell me," Allie said with a mournful sigh. "Reaper Energy?"
"Does the body good," Nina said as she rolled her shoulder. "And today, it's gonna do your body real bad."
Flint raised an eyebrow as he pushed up the brim of his hat with a finger. "Ain't that stuff got enough caffeine in it ta kill a man?"
Nina scoffed. "Maybe a man like you, Flim," she said, a smirk tugging at the corner of her mouth.
He grinned back at her, clearly enjoying the trash talk. "You know, I'm surprised you're up for this, what with you gettin' no sleep and all."
"I wouldn't miss an opportunity to kick your ass for the world."
"Them's fightin' words," he said with a laugh. "I cain't wait to blow that confident look right off that pretty little face of yours."
"Go ahead and try, dumbass. By the time Spec and I are done with you, that glass jaw of yours is gonna be in pieces."
"Scathing, sweet pea. But you're more fit for dancin' with than fightin' with."
That pissed her off. "Listen here you slimy piece of shi—!"
"Alright, alright, that's enough," Specter said, cutting her off. He held his sister off as if she were some rabid animal, standing directly between her and Flint.
"What the fuck, Specter? I was about to let him have it," Nina complained.
Allie let out a chuckle. "Your zeal is noted, girlfriend. But I think Spec just wants to get this over with."
"I haven't had lunch yet, so…yeah, let's just do this already," Specter shrugged.
The two meisters exchanged battle ready looks as their weapons goaded each other with their stares. Allie was obviously excited, her trigger finger twitching and her chalky blue eyes as cold as death. Specter looked bored, but his eyes were serious, the gears in his mind turning as he tried his best to think ahead.
"Alright, y'all," Kilik-sensei said as he approached, his soothing voice almost enough to disarm the rising tension between the two groups of students before him. "Let's go over the rules. Then we can get to the action."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"You already know the basics. Anything goes, just don't hit anybody watching or the main building with anything flashy. Stay in the courtyard. The duel goes until I say stop, and not a second after. I'll decide who wins based on what happens. If both meister and weapon on one side is incapacitated, it's an automatic win." He adjusted his glasses, the sun's wickedly hot light glinting off the lenses. "We clear?"
"Yes, sensei," everyone said in unison.
"Good. When I say 'go', ya'll can get started." The combat trainer smiled and shot them a knowing wink. "Make it fun for the folks who've got some dough ridin' on this, aight?" he whispered as he turned to give them some space.
Allie grinned as Flint turned into a ray of light, settling into her hands as a black-plated revolver. "You heard the man, Spec," she said, twirling Flint between her fingers. "Let's make it fun."
Specter grinned back at her as Nina transformed, twirling her in front of him before resting her shaft on his shoulders. "I intend to."
"Begin!" Kilik-sensei called out.
In the Death Room, more of the faculty and associated allies of the DWMA had gathered to watch Maka's son and daughter face off against Patty's daughter and her trusty handcannon. They crowded around Shinigami-sama's mirror like middle-aged fathers would surround a widescreen TV during a football game, excitedly hollering and cheering on the kids on the "screen" as they prepared for battle. Liz, the "cameraman", focused on her niece as she twirled Flint deftly between her fingers, his revolver weapon form appearing weightless in her hands. Ox was there, snickering to himself as Maka and Patty argued, along with Jaqueline and Angela, who had shown up to deliver paperwork only to get caught up in the excitement.
Black Star undoubtedly would have been there too, cheering Allie on, were he not on mission with Tsubaki in Poland.
Shinigami-sama groaned, carefully watching to make sure none of his belongings or furniture got knocked over or broken during what apparently had become quite the social event. He supposed it was good Black Star was gone. Not only would things undoubtedly have gotten out of hand, but he also would have been hunted down by Angela and stared down by his ex-wife.
It was enough to make his head spin.
"Are you alright, Shinigami-kun?" a hauntingly low, feminine voice said.
The Grim Reaper turned to find Crona-sama standing behind him, apparently the last person to join the party. Since her return from the Moon so many years back, she had blossomed into a voluptuous, if still reserved and mild-mannered, woman. Her long pink hair draped down past her shoulders, her body cloaked in a dark ensemble that was simple, but elegant.
"I'm fine, Crona-sama," he said with a sigh. "You've just caught me at a bad time, that's all."
A warm smile graced her features as her pale violet eyes regarded him. "I understand. It is quite a scene in here." Her hand raced up to her mouth to stifle a chuckle as Maka and Patty began another shouting match.
He suddenly found himself wishing that Kim-san was there to calm them both down.
"Hey, Crona," Soul said as he casually made his way over. "Come for the fireworks, or the fight?"
She let out another chuckle. "Neither, actually. I sensed that there was a gathering here in the Death Room and decided to investigate."
"That's not it," a dark, eerie voice dripping with malice said, emanating from Crona's body despite her lips not moving. "I told her to get the hell out of the basement and talk to people for a change. Ya know, to make sure she doesn't become more of a useless shut-in than she already is!"
"Hush, Ragnarok," she said with a frown. "That's not the reason for my being here, and you know it."
"Discredit me at your own peril, master," the demon sword said flatly. "I'll bury you in a second."
"He's just pissed because things have been so low-key lately," Soul said. "Getting a little dull, eh, Ragnarok?"
"Oh, I'd love to dull my blade on your face, you spiky-haired punk. Just give me a reason. Come on, I dare you. I double dog dare you, motherfucker! Gimme a reason!"
Crona narrowed her eyes, intent on silencing her weapon and blood, but Soul beat her to it.
"I could give you a million reasons," he scoffed, "But you and I both know you wouldn't be able to do anything without Crona's say-so. Isn't that right?"
The demon sword stayed silent, though everyone could almost feel the malice emanating from Crona's body.
Soul let out a short chortle. "Looks like I win this round, dumbass."
"For now…stupid scythe. I'll get you one of these days. I don't give a damn if Crona is on your side or not, I'll finish what I started and cut you to ribbons. You hear that, octopus head? Ribbons!"
"So much hostility in this room…" Shinigami-sama deadpanned, mostly to himself.
"Just wait till the fight starts," Soul said, his shark-like grin taking up most of his face.
"Soul!" Maka called out. "The duel's about to start!"
Those who happened to be talking quieted down instantly, and everyone quickly turned their attention toward the mirror.
"Shit, shit, shit," Specter muttered to himself as used Nina to block Allie's onslaught of gunfire, every shot a split second away from hitting him center mass.
"Do it now!" he heard Nina say from her soul pocket. "She won't let up, it's not like she can fuckin' run out of ammo!"
"Just wait," he spat. "Just wait…"
Every second that went by made him lose more and more confidence. It had seemed so easy in his head, but actually achieving soul resonance and using the Letter "I" Hunt-Slash was proving to be difficult with Allie focusing on rate of fire rather than accuracy. She was much more skilled with a gun than El Chapo had been, and he was having trouble keeping up.
He grit his teeth and focused, watching for the right moment to make his move.
Wait for it…wait for it…
Eventually, Allie stopped firing and took a different stance, both hands on the grip, her gaze locked on Specter's head.
Bingo.
"Now, Nina!" With a yell, Specter leapt into the air, miraculously dodging Allie's opening shot. He twirled Nina over his head, then let gravity take him as her blade expanded into a wicked edge of bright blue light.
He crashed down and called out with all his might:
"Letter "I" Hunt Slash!"
A wall of bright white energy composed of Specter's anti-demon wavelength shot out from where Nina's blade struck the ground, the courtyard stones cracking and shattering, almost jumping out of the way as the wave surged towards its target. Allie's eyes widened as she turned and dove to Specter's left, only barely avoiding the attack and losing her footing in the process. As she stumbled and fell to the ground, Specter rushed toward her, holding Nina out to one side, the Soul Hunt-Slash state fading as he ran.
Allie gasped and tried to stand up and fire a from the hip, but in her panic, she missed, allowing Specter to counterattack.
In an instant, he hooked the inside curve of Nina's blade around Allie's waist. He yanked as hard as he could, pulling Allie in towards him as he jumped into a drop kick aimed at her stomach. The kick connected, smashing her into Nina's slicing edge with a resounding crack.
Blood escaped Allie's mouth as she doubled over in pain, her eyes wide in shock. Had Nina's blade not been dulled, that attack would have cut her in half. It may not have been lethal, but it definitely hurt.
Specter touched back on the ground, dropped Nina's blade to the floor, and yanked again, pulling Allie's feet out from underneath her. He swung Nina around and attempted to end the duel in one clean strike. Before he could bring the blade down, however, Allie struck back, fanning Flint's hammer and putting six shots into Specter's torso.
He stumbled back and fell onto the cobblestones, gripping Nina tightly in his off-hand, convulsing from the pain of his opponent's soul wavelength wreaking havoc on his insides. Eventually, he used her to help himself get back onto his feet, but Allie had recovered as well, effectively putting them on equal footing once again. Specter grimaced as he wiped a small dribble of blood from his mouth.
Back to square one.
Kilik-sensei was stunned. Specter had actually taken the day's lesson to heart and accounted for his weaknesses. It made him proud.
Allie was no slouch, though. She had managed to make space between her and Specter at just the right time, giving herself another chance at winning. They were glaring at each other, but grinning as well.
They were getting into it now.
He smiled as he recalled his days being a student, dueling, and hunting evil souls, and seeing that spark in the next generation made his expression brighten even more. They were mirrors of their parents, those kids, but then again, they were also something more. Something new and powerful, like newborn stars.
The next generation of souls…
"Enjoying yourself, old friend?" a grim voice said from behind him.
He turned to find Harvar there, clearly there because Allie and Flint, his students, were in the duel.
"Harvar-kun! Good to see you."
"Likewise." He folded his arms as he discerningly eyed his and Kilik's students as they caught their breath, waiting for the right moment to begin their duel all over again. "You're supervising this duel, I take it?"
"Yup."
The lightning spear leaned in to whisper. "Am I to assume there is action on this duel?"
He grinned. Of course he knew. "You're damn right. You know I can't resist."
"Very well. I'll let it be. Just don't let Shinigami-sama find out."
He looked back at his old friend and teammate, who truly had not aged all that much, still wearing sunglasses all the time, still with his raven-colored hair up in a ponytail. "I won't."
A loud sound forced the men to turn their attention back toward the courtyard. They looked back just in time to watch as Specter and Allie charged at each other, letting out their battle cries. The fight had begun anew.
Everyone in the Death Room had gone silent. There were no cheers or hints of conversation, just narrowed eyes and stone faces as they watched. Before, it was jokes and jabs and mothers arguing about their sons and daughters, but the fight had gotten serious, and had brought the mood back down to ground level.
Maka watched with her Soul Perception, hoping to god that nothing would go wrong, that her son's soul wouldn't just wink out. Not that she thought he would actually die. She didn't. But she was his mother. It was her job to worry about him.
Soul must have sensed her trepidation, because he appeared beside her and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"He'll be fine," he said calmly.
She let out a sigh as she considered his words. "Yeah…he'll be fine."
Shinigami-sama watched closely, carefully examining both combatants. With his Soul Perception active, the live feed from the mirror changed to give him data on their vitals, the condition of their souls, even the resonance rate between weapon and meister. As Specter and Allie traded blows and danced around each other's attacks at close range, he noticed that Allie's soul was beginning to show signs of changing.
Maka saw it too, and gasped.
Two haunting eye sockets sank into the chalky blue orb, a triangular divot meant to convey a nose appearing in the space between. Three spikes, like unruly, jagged teeth, appeared at the bottom of the thing's so-called head, reminiscent of the mask worn by the late Shingami-sama. Her soul swelled with power as she reached out for resonance, and there was no mistaking it.
Allie Thompson had invoked the advent given unto her by her mother, the mark placed upon her soul the day she had been born, the day Shinigami-sama had ascended…and the day the late Shinigami-sama had faded from the earth.
The Mark of Death.
Allie let out a yell as she tried to clip Specter's chin with a crescent kick, chaining it into a sweep kick meant to knock him off balance. He dodged both and tried to slice at her, but she ducked to the side and fired off two shots. She smiled when they connected, running up and slamming her knee into his solar plexus so hard he fell backward.
He instinctively backed off after that, finally giving her a chance to think.
"Flint," she said slowly. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"
"Time ta bring out the big guns?"
"Yeah."
"Now you're talkin'. Giddy up."
Their eyes narrowed as they braced themselves for what they had to do.
"Let's go, soul resonance!" they said together.
Allie let her soul wavelength pour out like a song, and Flint received it and quickly gave it back, chambering it over and over until its power surged out of her body. Had Specter been looking through the lens of his Soul Perception, he would have been able to see that power manifest, the black lightning arcing out of her right hand as she raised Flint above her head. The bolts scrambled across the ground, unseen by the majority of those watching, sending up small clouds of dust as they carved invisible lines in the stones.
"Longarm."
Flint held his breath as his weapon form changed slightly, his cylindrical barrel replaced a big block of black steel in a wave of blinding light. He became a heavier, more impactful revolver, the chamber and hammer growing in size to convey a change in caliber. Words etched themselves into the barrel in a beautiful cursive script:
Si vis pacim, para bellum.
Specter twirled to block what he knew would be a more powerful shot, but it didn't work. Allie brought Flint up to bear and shot the flat of Nina's blade as it passed by his face, canceling out the force of the spin and forcing Nina to hit Specter on the head hard enough to cause him to stagger. She then shot the bottom of Nina's shaft, kicking it up and into Specter's crotch.
He let out a feral roar of pain, collapsing onto his knees as Nina clattered to the ground next to him. The boys and men in the crowd watching let out sympathetic groans and hisses of pain as Specter sat there in agony. Only Harvar-sensei nodded, his rigid pragmatism undoubtedly telling him that moves such as these were effective and therefore useful, be it in student duels or real combat.
Specter grit his teeth as the waves of pain washed through his body. "Shit…that hurt…a lot…" he whimpered.
"Sorry, Spec," Allie said as she pointed Flint's barrel at his head, "Looks like I win."
Another shot rang out.
For a moment, it appeared as if the duel was over. Allie was poised to win. Specter was on his knees.
But they had forgotten about Nina.
In a flash of light and one swift movement, Nina jumped in the path of the bullet and deflected it, using her arm in scythe form as a shield. Allie, surprised, fired again and again, but Nina was prepared. She ran forward, bracing her human arm against her blade and taking every shot head on.
It hurt like hell, but she pushed forward anyway, high on caffeine and adrenaline.
Allie tried to move back, but Nina was too fast, shoulder charging into the gunslinger and knocking her over. She quickly followed up and kicked Allie square in the face, leaping in after her with her scythe arm. But Allie managed to counter with a kick of her own, leaving both girls on their backs.
Allie rolled away while Nina sprung back onto her feet, her scythe blade at the ready. The two eyed each other, but Allie actually retreated, trying to push the range advantage and give herself time to think. Just as Nina was about to take off, her brother tapped her on the shoulder, his silent way of telling her to transform.
"Your balls all better?" she said as she became a bright white silhouette.
"Shut up," he said as he caught her as a scythe, her two-toned blade glinting wickedly under the light of the blazing sun.
Meanwhile, a good distance away, Allie was in a panic. While Longarm was powerful, it was unwieldy and couldn't fire as fast as she could fan Flint's hammer. Specter was smart enough to pick up on the technique's weaknesses, and now that he and Nina were back together, it would only be a matter of time before they caught up to her and closed the kill.
"What do we do, Allie?" Flint asked, his voice dark and cold in the black void of his soul pocket.
She considered her options. If she played the range game long enough, she could win, but Specter knew how to counter that. He and Nina could simply separate, split her focus. She could shoot at Specter, but Nina would close the gap and fight her in close quarters. And if she focused on Nina, Nina would block, and Specter would reunite with his sister and secure their victory.
There was only one real path to victory, one that would cost her dearly. But she had no choice. The money, the bet, none of it mattered.
Something in her soul demanded something more than that, and she would fight like hell to get it.
"We need to use everything we've got," she said finally, in a haggard, breathy whisper.
She could feel his surprise in the way the weight of his weapon form shifted in her hand.
"Are you sure 'bout this? The last time you tried that move, you almost lost your eye."
"I know. But I wasn't built to lose. I can take it."
He let out a scoff. "Shit, girl, you just cain't shake it off, can ya? That killer instinct of yours?"
She grinned, despite what she was preparing to do. "Just shut up and resonate with me."
Fed up and ready to end this stupid duel, Specter ran forward, Nina in hand, but stopped as he felt a sudden, overwhelming burst of power from Allie. The change was so sudden that he wanted to know what was behind such an oppressive wavelength. Instinctively, he blinked into his Soul Perception…and what he found there scared him.
Her soul was almost large enough to encompass her entire body, and shaped like a large skull, one of the late Shinigami-sama's skulls. It regarded him as if it were a living thing. Steadfast and resolute, the chalky blue skull revealed nothing as its empty eye sockets stared into his soul and petrified him.
Then he noticed something, something that spelled doom, something that rocked him to his core: there, in the place of her pupil and iris, was a skull.
"Deadeye."
For a moment, nothing happened. Allie stood ready to shoot, but didn't move a muscle, her skull eye locked onto Specter. Sensing that staying still was a bad idea and remembering what she had done to him earlier, Specter rushed to his right, taking a wide arc as he held Nina in front of him, prepared to use the flat of her blade to deflect any shots aimed at his chest or head.
Allie didn't flinch or even bother to look in Specter's direction. She just waited, staring dead ahead, her finger on the trigger. As he got closer and got ready to strike, his curiosity got the better of him, and he glanced to the side to see what she was looking at.
It appeared to be a tower of some kind, one of the few structures that could be seen over the courtyard wall. There was a glint in the tower, something made of metal, but he couldn't quite make out what it was. Then he thought about it, and realized what it might be.
That was no tower. It was a steeple. A church steeple.
What he was looking at was a church bell.
His eyes widened in realization a split-second before the shot rang out.
Her eye put the world ahead of her into a new perspective. The trajectory, the angle, the wind, the altitude, the position of her target…all the data she needed to make the shot was available to her. When it all came together, her path forward was clear.
To hit her target, she would have to miss her target.
As he moved to close the gap between them, Specter hazarded a glance at where her gaze was centered. She saw the realization in his features, the way his eyes shot back to her in shock. Her mouth curled up into a smile on one side.
With a flourish, she put Flint out in front of her, took aim, and pulled the trigger.
The shot did exactly what she wanted, striking the bell in the church steeple with a resounding clang and ricocheting back into the courtyard. Specter tried to stop, knowing what was coming, but it didn't matter. The bullet had already reached him.
Slipping past his shield, it slammed into his jaw, almost dislocating it, and forcing him to stumble and fall.
Nina bounced off the ground and began to transform in mid-air, no doubt hoping to get in for a close range brawl. But Allie had accounted for that. Before Nina could finish her transformation, Allie shot her out of the air.
With five well-placed and well-timed shots, she sent Nina flying blade-first into one of the courtyard walls, the last bullet striking the back of the scythe head and burying her an arm's length into the stonework.
In a matter of seconds, the battle was over. Specter could only struggle to stand back up, his vision swimming, while Nina, having shifted back to human form, tried desperately to free herself. Allie slowly approached Specter, Flint's barrel pointed right between his eyes.
"Shit," he said.
Then she pulled the trigger, and Specter collapsed on the courtyard stones, unconscious.
"Shit!" cried Nina, only to be silenced by the final shot of the duel.
She dangled limply from where her arm was jammed into the wall, her face a storm of anger despite being knocked out.
"Battle over!" Kilik-sensei announced. "I'm calling this one. Allie and Flint win!"
Relief washed through Allie's mind. Then pain. A searing, burning pain in her eye that left her reeling. She put her hand over her eye, gripping her head tightly. A cry escaped her lips as Flint transformed and tried his best to console her, knowing what was coming.
He was forced to grimly watch as Allie lost her eye.
"Specter…" Maka said, her eyes teary despite knowing that her son was alive and well.
"Damn, what a move," Soul said off-handedly. "How the hell did she do that?"
Shinigami-sama took a step forward as he began to explain, appearing next to the mirror. "It's a technique known as Deadeye. It gives her the incredible accuracy a shinigami can achieve at the height of their power."
"Was that how she landed that impossible shot?" Ox asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes," he replied, his sharp hearing still picking out the church bell as its clanging began to subside.
The Soul Studies professor narrowed his brow in thought. "Incredible," he muttered.
"Such a power must come at a cost," Crona said grimly. "Humans cannot bear the immense weight of a god's power. Not normally," she added, remembering the exception to the rule.
Shinigami-sama nodded. "Indeed. In this case, the cost of gaining a shinigami's sight…is to lose her own."
"Does that mean…she's going to go blind?" Maka said, suddenly worried on Patty's behalf.
She was surprised to hear Patty herself pipe up.
"No," she said, seemingly unfazed. "Only half."
When Patty didn't elaborate, Shinigami-sama stepped in again to explain.
"Allie can only use the technique for eight seconds," Shinigami-sama added. "In exchange, she loses sight in her right eye for eight hours."
"Eight hours of blindness for eight seconds of badassery?" Soul asked, surprised. "That's not exactly one-to-one."
"Were she a shinigami, it would be."
Maka narrowed her eyes. "If the side effects are so detrimental, why would she use it for something as harmless as a school duel? Seems kind of reckless…"
"Because she's a fighter," Patty said with a grin. "I would've done the same thing."
"But…" Maka stammered.
"Don't worry, Maka," Jaqueline said, "Kim can fix it."
She blinked. Even after all these years, she had somehow forgotten that they had a healer on staff at the DWMA. Granted, she was no surgeon, but in many ways, she was better than a surgeon.
"Oh, yeah. Duh." She smiled at Jaqueline, who shot her a knowing wink.
"That reminds me," Shinigami-sama said as he turned to the mirror. "Tezca."
At his command, the image of the courtyard in the mirror changed to that of the half-dead Death Weapon in question, in all of his skeletal, animal head-wearing glory.
"What can I do for you, Shinigami-sama?" he said with a bow.
"Send Kim-san to the front courtyard right away."
Tezca shook his giant stuffed bear head. "No need. She's already there."
"How did she…?" the Grim Reaper trailed off, suddenly turning his attention to Angela, who was busy tapping away at her smartphone.
Angela smiled up at him as she shot off another text. "Figured it was getting pretty dicey, so I told Kim-sensei to go out there just in case something went wrong."
"Good call," Soul said approvingly.
Tezca looked to Shinigami-sama. "Anything else, boss?"
"Oh, yes. Please send Kilik-san to me whenever he's available."
"Of course," the Death Weapon said as he faded away.
"What do you want with Kilik?" Jaqueline asked.
"It's nothing major. Just something to do with a…minor policy violation," he said carefully.
She grinned at him. "You're finally busting him for putting money on student duels, aren't you?"
Shinigami-sama grimaced. "Yes…I let it slide when he was gambling things like novelty erasers and boxes of chalk, but things have been getting out of hand as of late. Kilik has become a bookie for many of the E.A.T. students, students wagering their actual money. That ends today."
Maka turned back to her husband, ignoring what she might call Academy politics. "Do you think Specter and Nina will be alright?"
"They just got knocked out, and Kim is there now, so they'll be on their feet in a few minutes." He gave her a reassuring smile. "Don't stress out about it."
She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding in.
"I won't."
Specter was roused to consciousness by a warmth flooding into his head. Slowly he opened his eyes to see Kim-sensei, the school nurse, using her magic on him. It took him a second to remember.
What had he been doing?
Oh. The duel. Right.
"Shit," he said as he let his head fall back against the pillar he was leaned up against. "I lost."
"Maybe," Kim-sensei said. "But you put on one hell of a show. I would have paid money to see it, and I'm the stingiest person I know."
He let out a nervous chuckle. "Thanks, Kim-sensei."
She smiled warmly back at him. "You're very welcome."
"What happened to Nina?" he said, looking around and not seeing her.
"I had Kilik-sensei take her to the Dispensary to sleep this whole thing off."
"Did you…heal her?"
"I did. I just didn't wake her up. Figured it was for the best," she added with a wink.
"I mean, you're right, but…how did you…?" he trailed off, uncertain how to finish his question.
Kim-sensei just laughed. "I figured it out," she said, holding up her phone.
Right. That was a thing.
"Uh…okay. Should I just pick her up after school, or…?"
"That works. I'll see you at three." With that, she left, leaving Specter alone with his thoughts.
Or so he thought.
He heard Valor before he saw him. "Hey, champ," he said, appearing on Specter's left.
"Sorry you didn't win," Max added as came out from behind his weapon.
"Sorry you had to see me get thrashed," Specter said wearily.
Val shook his head. "No way, man. You gave her hell, almost had her, too. Shame it didn't turn out."
Specter smiled. Despite losing, somehow, he felt accomplished. Victory would have been nice, but Allie's drive to win had simply outpaced his.
There was disappointment, yes, but something else accompanying it, something like the runner's high, but for a fight gone wrong.
"Whatever. It's not a big deal," he said as he stood up.
"'Atta boy," Val said as he gave Specter a fist bump. "Take it in stride."
Max nodded in agreement. "To be fair to you, Allie had to pull out the big guns to take the win. If you had kept up the pressure, you might have overwhelmed her."
"Yeah, Nina can be pretty overwhelming," Specter admitted. "Between me and her, Allie might have lost out."
Val frowned in thought suddenly. "Is Flint good in a brawl?"
"I would assume so," Max mused. "He can't use his weapon form the same way a melee weapon can, so I imagine he's pretty capable with his fists."
Specter shrugged. "Guess we won't know for sure until we see it for ourselves." It was then that he realized something. "Where is Allie, anyway?"
"Right behind you," a familiar voice said.
The boys turned around to find Allie and Flint standing near the front entrance to the school alongside Gray Star and Sage.
"Nice eyepatch," Specter said, pointing to the Japanese-style medical eye cover Allie had on.
"Shut up," she said with a grin.
"Everything okay?" Max asked.
Allie nodded. "All good. Kim-sensei dismissed me, but I can't take the eyepatch off until it gets dark. Apparently, I'm still a little sensitive to bright light."
"The healin' process is a little on the slow and painful side, and unlike me, she can't drink to numb the pain," Flint added.
"Brutal," Specter conceded. He turned to Allie's sister. "Where were you, Gray Star? I didn't see you in the crowd."
"I was around," she said vaguely.
"Guess you were rooting for Allie, huh?"
The shinobi gave him a half smile. "I was rooting for both of you."
"Hear that, Spec? She was rooting for you," Val said, not at all subtly elbowing him and winking at him.
Specter shoved him off. "Shut up," he said flatly.
He didn't see it, but Gray Star looked away shyly, heat rising to her face.
"I was watching, as well," Sage said. "You executed your strategy perfectly. I applaud your skill."
"That's high praise, comin' from you," Specter said, surprised. "Thanks."
It was then that the bell rang, signaling the end of lunch period and the conversation.
"Well, that's lunch," Max announced.
Specter let out a sigh. "Yup. Time for Resonance 202 or whatever."
"Not ta put too fine a point on it, but…what exactly are you gonna do without your sister, son?" Flint asked. "You cain't really practice resonance without someone to resonate with."
"Guess I'm screwed," Specter said with a shrug. "I'll have to sit out." He suddenly snapped his head over toward the cowboy. "And don't call me son, dude. I know you're an old man, but you need to chill out with that shit."
"You're just saddle sore that Allie mashed your prairie oysters."
"Uh…translation?" Specter deadpanned.
Allie let out a laugh. "He's saying you're all pissy because I hit you in the balls."
The group laughed as they made their way back inside the DWMA proper. Specter fumed, but stayed silent, heat rising to his face. In multiple ways, he'd been defeated, but that last one had somehow stung more than losing the duel.
The rest of the day went by as Specter expected. He was excused from Soul Resonance 202 due to what the instructor, who happened to be his mother, described as "extenuating circumstances", enabling him to skip out and actually eat his lunch. Not wanting to deal with his elective, either, he simply ditched, knowing his uncle wouldn't mind.
The keys weren't calling to him.
He spent the last hour of the school day wandering the Academy, lazily kicking at the vending machines and watching videos on his phone as he found different ways to get comfortable in the chairs in the school library. At one point, he got a text from his mother. She asked about Nina's condition, and when he answered her back, she texted him something about losing the duel being enough of a punishment for Nina.
For earlier.
He had almost forgotten.
When the time came to take Nina home, he enlisted the help of Valor to help him carry her back to the apartment. Max tagged along, citing boredom and a lack of homework as his reason for doing so. The sun was still high in the sky as they walked, laughing as usual, but he did begin to drift down toward the western horizon, his journey over Death City more than half over.
"Did you hear?" Val said with a grin. "Kilik-sensei got busted. You know, for the gambling and all that."
"No shit," Specter said, mildly surprised. "I figured Allie would get the rap for the whole thing. Wasn't it her idea?"
"The duel was her idea. The betting wasn't," Max corrected. "We talked about it during elective."
"What, study hall?"
"Yeah."
"Wait, I thought Allie was in a combat training elective or something. Advanced Placement shit," Val pondered.
Max nodded. "She is, but given that she lost vision in her right eye…"
"Ah, didn't think about that."
Specter scoffed. "So, what, she just hung out in study hall with you?"
"Pretty much," he shrugged. "But yeah, the betting thing wasn't Allie's idea, she just went along with it. It was a few of the guys in Class Crescent who thought it would be fun. They even told her that Kilik-sensei would be the bookie."
"Damn. I'd heard something about his making bets on duels, but I never knew he was using legit money."
"I knew," Val said with a grin.
Specter and Max shared knowing looks. It was no secret that Val was practically Kilik-sensei's step son, for reasons not often talked about in their friend group. Not only was Val good friends with Honey Lang as a result, but he also spent a lot of time at the Rung household, which meant he was always up to date on family gossip.
"He wasn't at all surprised when I told him what was going on with the duel," Max said.
Specter grinned. "Cool."
It was then that the boys arrived at Specter and Nina's apartment, Valor carrying Nina in his arms like one might handle a large cat. He carefully followed Specter up the steps, the scythe meister opening the door for him and Max before closing it behind them.
"Should I just drop her on the couch? Or what?"
"Just toss her in her room. That's where she'd probably go if she were awake anyway."
"Down the hall?"
"Yeah, just before my room."
"Gotchu."
Valor carried the slumbering scythe around the corner and into the hall, returning a moment later with his hands in his pockets.
"So…do you wanna hang or somethin'?" he asked.
Max turned to Specter. "We could. After everything that happened today, she'd probably sleep through the Black Paper Moon Day Parade."
Specter smiled, but shook his head. "Yeah, I'd rather not. Getting dunked on by Allie put me in a weird mood."
"Weird…bad?" Max prodded.
"Just…weird."
Val let out a malicious chuckle. "He's just miffed because he lost while his girlfriend was watchi—!"
He was forced to duck as Specter threw a couch cushion at him.
"Shut up," he said flatly. "Gray Star and I are not a thing. If you're gonna ship people in real life, kindly keep me the hell out of it."
His friends shared a laugh at his expense, which compelled him to throw his last couch cushion at Max, who took it to the face and tumbled onto the ground, still laughing. The boys talked a little after that, but ultimately, Max and Valor left Specter alone to process the day's events and recover from his defeat at the hands of the Class Crescent Moon's premier gunslinger girl. He sighed as he closed the door, suddenly exhausted.
Frustrated, he pulled out his phone. His eyebrow quirked up when he saw he had a text. It was Gray Star.
"Rough day, huh?" the message read.
He scoffed, then smiled.
"yeah," he typed. "but its cool"
"Cool. Sorry my sister beat you up."
"srry I beat up your sister lol"
"It's okay. She literally asked for it, haha."
"Lol true"
"Sage told me about you practicing before lunch. Using the I Slash was smart"
"thanks but it was mostly sage's idea. i just went along with it"
"He gave you advice, but you selected the technique best for the task. Give yourself more credit."
"thanks"
His heart rate accelerated for a moment, his pulse punching him in the sternum just once as he remembered what she had said after the duel.
"hey," he typed, "were you rly rooting for both of us?"
Gray Star's response was slow, the three dots appearing on her side of the message screen indicating that she was thinking.
"No," was her eventual answer. "I was rooting for you."
He grinned to himself, relishing in the glory. "niiiiiiiiiiice." Then a thought occurred to him. "wait…who did you think was gonna win?"
There was no hesitation this time. "Allie."
"ouch lol"
"Sorryyyyyyyy," she said, clearly making him out to be upset.
"nah, youre good. it makes snense honestly. shes a badass lol"
"So are you."
"thanks lol"
They talked for a while after that. Long into the night. After everything that had happened, it was a nice distraction, and Specter spent far too long talking to Gray Star about pointless things, anything to keep the conversation going.
Night swallowed up the apartment long before Specter turned in. The grinning, giggling moon watched over both of the Evans children as they slept soundly despite their latent soreness and the wounds done upon their pride. Weapon and meister, sister and brother, defeated, but satisfied.
Just another day at the DWMA.
Omake
Elsewhere in the world, it was well past noon in Madrid, Spain, where a young meister stood tall, a crimson soul floating at her feet. She was of average height and build, but her sun-kissed skin had its fair share of battle scars, visible as faded lines on an otherwise blemish-free canvas. Her fuschia eyes smiled from her cheeks as she regarded her fallen foe's life essence, her weapon clutched tight in one hand.
"Another victory for the forces of good," the sword said with all the pomp and presence of a court noble.
"Suppose so," the girl said as she slashed and sent the evil soul back to the DWMA, time and space tearing open to ferry it along. "Shame he didn't put up more of a fight. For a Mad Matador, he was kinda useless."
"He was no match for your skill and courage," Excalibur said proudly, shifting into his humanoid form. He tipped his hat to her with his cane. "These extracurricular assignments hold no challenge for you."
She smiled as the blue longsleeve she wore like a cape flapped in the hot wind that blew through the bullfighting coliseum the evil soul had once called home.
"Yep! It won't be long before I master you, Exie!"
"Don't forget, Reika, to access my full power, you must meet all three of my provisions. You have the heart of a lion and the skill of a true knight, but your mind must be as sharp as your steel."
She put her hands in her pockets, noting that her jeans were still stained with bloody ichor and dust from her encounter with the Mad Matador. "I know, I know. I just…need to get out of the classroom for a bit, that's all. I'll go back when I'm nice and refreshed, ready to hit the books again."
"Reika, we haven't attended a regular class at the Academy for almost three weeks," he deadpanned.
"Psh, whatever. Hunting evil souls is way more fun than hitting the books. Screw studying."
He swiftly rapped her on the head with his cane.
"Ow! What was that for?" she asked, rubbing her head before running her fingers through her short, spiked blonde hair.
"Fool! A true knight is more than a fighter, she is a strategist and a scholar!"
"Alright, alright! We'll go back to the—ow!—Academy! Quit hitting me with that—ach!—freaking cane! Stupid holy sword! Ouch! Quit it!"