Shade and Amor faced each other in the ring, two opposites locked into a single, hungry orbit. Shade wore that manic grin like armor — teeth bright, eyes alight — while Amor regarded him with a narrowed, professional stare that felt like a blade being tested against a whetstone.
"Why are you smiling so hard rookie?" Amor asked, voice hard as flint.
"I always get a bit excited when I get to hurt somebody." Shade's grin widened, hungry.
"Somebody outta humble that sense."
"I really challenge you to do that."
"Your smile genuinely annoys me."
"It annoys a ton of people."
Mustang stepped back, his cue snapping the match into motion. "Feel free to start fighting you two!"
"You don't have to tell me twice." Amor's lips curled and, in an instant, two red swords materialized in her hands like conjured lightning — sleek, hungry, and stained with the sort of promise only weapons could make.
"I won't go easy on you rookie. Consider this a test to see if you deserve to win."
"You make swords? I fought a guy like that a day ago." Shade settled into a loose fighting pose, eyes bright with appetite.
Amor lunged. Her strikes were a staccato of deadly intent — rapid, precise slashes meant to dissect rhythm and breath. Shade dodged on thread-thin margins, the blades searing close enough to sing his skin.
"I will admit. Amor is our second strongest fighter. If it weren't for the existence of Banri, I do believe that she could be a super star," Mustang commented, voice carrying the kind of appraisal only older fighters could give.
After one weave, Amor slipped a hard kick into Shade's stomach that launched him back a step. He still wore the smile.
"Impressive." Shade lunged in, throwing a barrage of punches meant to overwhelm. Amor moved like a taught wire — every strike avoided, weight redistributed, a motion of economy and force.
"I will say, Shade fights with an odd bit of emotion. I can't really explain what makes him so... uncanny." Akarui observed, watching from the stands with tired curiosity.
Amor met one punch with a blade and the steel bit into Shade's knuckle. The sword shattered under the strike into screaming shards, and she hopped back with a small, satisfied grunt.
"You really don't pull punches. This'll be fun." Her voice sounded almost pleased.
The cut on Shade's knuckles opened fast and dark. He licked the blood from the wound as if tasting a secret, then vanished into motion. In a blink he closed with a lightning jab aimed straight for Amor's gut — brutal, direct, intent on stopping breath. But between his fist and her body, like the absurdest possible defense, a gummy bear appeared: soft, enormous, and positioned exactly where needed. Shade's fist met the candy with a thunk; the gummy compressed and then reacted, sending back a concussive pulse of air. The blow cushioned his punch but returned force into him. Amor caught the gummy like a grenade.
"Oh?" Shade blinked in surprise.
"Catchy." Amor tossed the gummy at him like a practiced grenade; Shade, with the reflex of a brawler, snagged it. The confection flared in his hands — a sudden bloom of light — and then exploded, blowing him back in a cloud of smoke.
"So she doesn't just make weapons. Kinda refreshing." Akarui smirked, impressed.
"Amor's ability is named 'Bad Batch', she can create exploding candy," Mustang supplied, neutral and slightly amused.
"That sounds... interesting." Akarui raised an eyebrow.
"It's a lot more useful than you think." Miriam called out, voice small but certain.
When the smoke thinned, Shade stood — battered by the blast but beaming, the thrill obvious on his face. He drove forward with a massive punch that Amor slipped under. He followed with a spinning kick; she blocked it, palms bracing, and then she thrust a sword in a quick, clean line. Shade dodged, answered by kicking the blade hard — and shattering it into fragments.
He tried for a face-kick next; Amor stepped back and the blow missed. In a shimmer, a pink gauntlet materialized around her fist — singular, heavy, a pact of power — and she drove it into Shade's cheek. Blood arced from his grin as the gauntlet detonated into a concussive bloom that sent him flat on his back.
"Is that all you got rookie?" Amor demanded, standing over him like a judge.
Shade rolled, flipped back to his feet, wiped the blood from his nose with theatrical flourish, and grinned as if the blood only sweetened the moment. "You really are the real deal! The last all-star I fought sucked, but you're actually a challenge!"
Amor's left eye twitched — annoyance fraying into the smallest thread of approval.
"Are you enjoying this?" she asked, a test in tone.
"Absolutely!" Shade answered, bright and hungry.
Amor's lips lifted, just once — a smirk that was equal parts warning and interest. "I might actually like you."
Shade palmed his fist, the motion casual and poised like a coiled spring ready to snap.
"False Weapon Style: Cannon!" Shade punched forward. The air condensed into a heavy globe and shot toward Amor with the force of a thrown boulder.
"False weapon style?-" Amor lunged aside, the cannonball of air grazing past her. She produced a slender rapier of pink candy in a heartbeat and lunged with feather-light precision. Shade twisted, the blade singing past him, but Amor flowed into near-perfect fencing—multi-thrusts and swift parries that forced Shade to flip back and catch himself on one hand.
"False Weapon Style: Hatchet!" Shade snapped a kick into the air. A sharp, chopping wave of force punched toward Amor; she parried it, then saw Shade launch himself at her with feet pointed like twin spears.
"False Weapon Style: Jackhammer!" Shade's legs blurred into a staccato of kicks, a chain of strikes meant to break rhythm. Amor met them all with smooth, practiced blocks.
"False Weapon Style: Axe!" With a downward boom he stomped. His foot crashed onto Amor's candy rapier and cleaved it in two. Amor leapt back and, in the same motion, conjured a pistol of green candy. A staccato of bright, sharp bullets spat from it.
Shade's feet barely hit the ground before he threaded through the hail of projectiles, but a shard found him—fleshy, hot pain flaring in his shoulder as a neat, bleeding hole opened. The wound did not calm his grin; in fact, the smile widened, the sight of it making Amor pause for a breath.
Did we really draft a psychopath to our team? Amor's initial shock twisted into a slow grin.
Finally, another competent fighter like myself! Gratification flickered across her face. In a fluid motion she transformed the green candy gun into a heavy, hooked axe of the same hue and lunged at Shade just as he surged forward.
Their clash was a blur: Shade's fists whirled with clinical precision, each probe and blow finding spaces where Amor might falter. She blocked, blocked again, and after a volley of defenses she carved a clean slash across Shade's chest. The START mark emblazoned on his sternum flared orange, like a meter being charged. Amor's eyes caught the sudden glow.
What's that? Start? she wondered, then ducked under a snapping punch. A slick, pink substance bled up from the arena stones and crept beneath Shade's feet, sticky and quick.
"Gum." Amor's tone was flat as she stepped back, watching it hold him fast.
"You can make Gum?" Shade barked, incredulous.
"I can make anything that's considered candy." Amor said, blunt.
"I don't consider gum candy," Shade snapped.
"Well, you're wrong!" Amor shot back and lunged, axe raised to slash.
"False Weapon Style: Rocket!" Shade detonated, rocketing skyward with savage speed and force. He escaped the axe's arc, launched into the air like a missile.
"Shade sure is giving her the work." Shi Ji called from the stands.
"I wouldn't quite say that..." Miriam replied, measured.
"What? Why?" Shi Ji blinked.
"Haven't you noticed, Shi Ji?" Akarui asked, voice low.
"Noticed what?"
"Shade has yet to actually hit Amor," Mustang observed, calm and cutting.
"He looks like he's struggling actually..." Akarui added, watching the battle keenly.
"I don't expect a rookie like him to beat a seasoned all-star like her. She's fought many more battles than him, she's used to fighters like him," Mustang said, practical.
"So, did we all just come here to get our asses beat?" Akarui muttered, blood beginning to spray from his shoulder, a red thread stitched across the air.
"Maybe." Mustang's answer was short.
"What a coach you are." Akarui's face split in a half-grin even as the wound bled.
"AKARUI! YOU'RE BLEEDING!!!" Shi Ji's alarm cut through the arena.
"I think I know that. Could-ya patch me up?" Akarui grunted.
Shi Ji wasted no time—he drenched Akarui in his healing water, the spray steaming as it sealed and soothed the wound.
Back in the ring, Shade and Amor circled like two different storms. Amor brandished her candy hatchet with bored mastery; Shade still smiled, every inch of him marked and bruised, but his eyes burned with a reckless hunger that had not dulled.
Shade's eyes narrowed into twin slits as the next exchange unfolded—danger circling like a hawk.
In the blink of an eye, Amor launched her hatchet. It whistled past Shade's cheek, flared, and detonated in a bloom of candy-sugar smoke. Before the haze cleared, she was on him—brass-knuckles of red candy forming on one fist and smashing into his stomach. Before Shade could fully fold, a purple-candy gauntlet formed around Amor's other hand and smashed into his face, the purple confection shattering from the force. Spinning like a dancer, she summoned a pink candy knife and whipped it toward him; Shade met the blade with his own hand, and the candy plunged into his palm.
"Say bye bye to your hand," Amor sneered.
The candy blade began to glow dangerously. Shade ripped it free, flinging it away—where it erupted into a bright blast. In the clearing smoke, Shade's grin had changed. His pupils shrank to pinpricks and the smile widened into something feral.
The hell is that look? Amor's breath hitched.
Shade's body blurred—motion no longer human—flickering in front of her with a dead calm on his face. He launched a lightning-fast kick that Amor met with her bare arm. The impact sent her staggering across the arena and yet she stayed upright.
Did he get... stronger? She scanned the ring. Shade was gone. Then she felt him behind her; a punch came from the rear, which she ducked beneath and flipped away.
"How are you getting stronger? Is this your gimmick?" Amor demanded, turning.
"Of course not." Shade wiped blood from his nose; the expression on his face did not change.
Mustang's voice was contemplative. "I suppose that's the uncanny emotion you said he fights with."
"Yeah, I don't know if he's a sadist or what," Akarui said, watching. "If he is, he's a freaky sadist at that."
"He's more of a predator that's enjoying his hunt," Mustang added.
Shade didn't answer—he simply prepared. Immediately, Amor summoned a thick, resilient shield of candy—bands of red, green, and purple weaving into a solid front.
"False Weapon Style..." Shade began.
Arrows of condensed air screamed from Shade's fingers, bolts of wind that slammed into the candy shield again and again. The barrier held, but Shade did not relent.
"Seriously, what is Shade's fighting style? Mine is me simply moving my limbs with such force that it shifts air," Akarui muttered in astonishment. "He's grabbing air and condensing it."
"I've fought his master before," Mustang said quietly. "The False Weapon Style is strong. It's learned in secret. Basically: it draws in nearby air and shapes it around a chosen limb."
Shade's barrage continued. Then, without warning, dozens of candy spears arced over the shield and plunged toward him. Shade stopped firing the bolts when he saw the rain of spears and tried to dodge, but a few nicked him—cuts that crawled with flair across his skin. The spears slammed into the ground around him, planting like a ring of stakes. The START on Shade's chest flared bright orange, and a faint, hungry aura kindled about him.
"I feel fresh out of bed!" Shade crowed, sprinting for the shield. He dug his fingers into the candy with savage grip, biting the sugary surface with his nails until he could tear in.
"I'm back at full strength now!" he declared, heaving the shield high into the air with frightening ease.
"Where'd he get that boost of energy from?" Mustang asked.
"It must be his gimmick," Akarui guessed.
Amor stared, disbelief curdled into a smile. "So I haven't even gotten halfway done with fighting you!"
"I'm completely refreshed now!" Shade crowed.
"So, is this some sort of second life?" Mustang wondered aloud.
"Noooo I wouldn't say so," Akarui replied. "He still looks damaged to me."
Shade took the stance, closed his fist, and called out, "False Weapon Style: Spear!" He lunged like a bolt. Amor stepped aside and grinned at him.
"I don't know what you did, but you're back and moving again!" she said warmly.
"I'm just learning what my gimmick can do! I think I'm getting the hang of it," Shade said, sinking into a steady stance. He lowered himself, focused, and the START on his chest began to drain like a meter as the orange aura collapsed into his arm.
"Start!" he shouted. The light pooled in his hand. "False Weapon Style: Start Spear!" His arm erupted with an orange spear-shaped aura and he detonated forward with the speed of a bullet. The force of his rushing body carved the ground beneath him, and he plunged—only to land amid the ring of candy spears he had earlier dodged.
"Woah, I missed," Shade admitted, breathless.
"You almost got me, but it looks like I got you," Amor said with a nervous half-smile.
All the spears flared at once and detonated. The blast was enormous; when the smoke and sugar dust cleared, Shade lay face-down and utterly still—unconscious.
"Not a single scratch on her..." Akarui noted, incredulous.
"He still has much to learn, I see," Mustang said, flat and assessing.
Shi Ji squinted up toward the stands. "Wait—Akarui fought Matthew, and Shade fought Amor..." He glanced at Miriam, who acknowledged him with a small wave even as she quietly watched the cleared field.
"Did you just put that together?" Akarui asked.
"I was too focused on the fight," Shi Ji admitted. "Oh gosh—Matthew and Amor are pretty strong fighters. I can only imagine how strong Miriam is."
"She looks easy to handle," Akarui mused, "but knowing you, it might be a close call."
"Wow, thanks," Shi Ji said, uncomfortably flattered.
Mustang stood and pointed. "Shi Ji, Miriam, get into the arena."
Shi Ji swallowed hard. Akarui snorted softly at his companion's nerves. "Someone's nervous," he observed