Promotion Exam, Part 1

"Oh, hey Luis," Nick says to me as I step into the dormhouse. "Perfect timing, I was just about to call for you." Upon seeing my wounds, Nick's eyes widen. "What happened to you?!" He cries.

"Got my ass kicked by Ace of the Cards of the King," I sigh as I take a seat at the kitchen table. "Said they needed me for their "master plan" or whatever. Something to do with me being a half demon. Not the first time I've heard that."

"Yeah, when I fought Ace all the way back when at the Lincoln Correctional Facility, he did mention needing you for something, though he didn't specify what," Nick replies.

"And you didn't tell me this why?!" I cry.

"It was your first mission, I didn't want to scare you!" Nick cries back, causing me to sigh.

Nick reaches into the folds of his suit jacket and pulls out a cigarette pack. Nick slides a cigarette out, places it between his lips, then brandishes a lighter and ignites it. Nick takes a long draw of his cigarette before pulling it out of his mouth and breathing out an exhale of smoke.

"Woah, since when do you smoke?!" I cry.

"I used to, since Violet's death. I quit for a while. And now…I'm back on," Nick answers.

"What about you?" I ask. "Why were you gonna call me?"

"Before I explain-" Nock begins to say, then pauses, and peers up to the floor above us. "MIKEY, GET DOWN HERE!" Nick shoutas the top of his lungs.

The two of us hear some rustling above us, and then a bed creaking. And then; Mikey stomps his way downstairs and enters the kitchen.

"What, old man?" Mikey grunts. "I was sleeping."

"It's…two PM…"

 "And?"

Nick sighs. "Now that you're both here, I'll explain. The Chairman knows that you're a half demon, Luis," Nick begins to say.

My eyes widen for a split second, then narrow again. I turn away from Nick and roll my eyes. "Yeah, who doesn't?" I sneer.

"The Chairman's made his decision. He's not going to kill you," Nick continues. "Not exactly, at least." Nick then explains to us the whole assassination plot.

"So all we have to do is beat up some Slayers?" Mikey asks as he punches a fist into his palm. "I've been doing this since day one."

"Not just any Slayers, Assassins," Nick replies. "Remember, I'm the strongest Pro Slayer. And I still look like a baby compared to some of the Assassins we have."

"So do we know anything about the Assassination Plot?" I ask.

"I'm certain that the Assassins come tomorrow, and I know two of which they'll be sending. Assassins always work in pairs. Normally, I'd be confident in taking on…pretty much any Assassin they throw our way. But this one, oh, his Cursed Ability is tricky," Nick begins to explain. "Slayer Hitoshī, Cursed Ability: called Equal Distribution. When Hitoshī stamps you with his right hammer, the amount of damage that you deal to Hitoshī, half of that will be reflected onto you. When Hitoshī stamps you with his left hammer, half of the Cursed Power that Hitoshī uses up will instead drain me from you. He's…my ex partner and teacher."

My eyes widen.

"The teacher of the strongest Pro Slayer does sound a bit tricky…" Mikey grumbles.

"His partner, my replacement, is Slayer Chishiki, Cursed Ability: Alchemy. Think of Jamie's Adaptability, rather than changing the substance of his own skin, Chishiki can alter the chemical structures of inanimate substances around him. If Chishiki knows the chemical structure of what he wants to change the original substance to, that is" Nick explains. "Chishiki isn't…well…an adequate replacement for me, but no one is. But don't make that make you think that Chishiki is weak. He's not, he's tactical. He doesn't look it, but he's one of the smartest men that the Organization has in its grasp."

"Do we have a strategy for this Assassination Plot?" Mikey asks.

"Yes," Nick answers. "To protect Luis by any means necessary."

"But why?!" I cry. "I'm stronger now, I can protect myself!"

Nick shakes his head. "You're strong. Not Junior Slayer strong, but strong. You're just not Assassin Slayer strong," Nick explains, causing me to sigh and Mikey to roll his eyes.

"Now, I'm going to call up the others," Nick continues. "They're going to be in on Mission: Protect Luis as well."

***

After a bit of waiting, Ella, Grover, Jamie, and Austin arrive on the scene.

"What did you call us here for, Nick?" Ella asks as she steps through the door.

"And on our day off, no less!" Grover laughs as he enters the kitchen as well. "Just kidding. I'd do anything The Bumblebee says."

"I was at the gym!" Jamie groans as she follows after Ella and Grover.

"Well I was working on some pristine inventions," Austin sulks as he does the anime glasses guy thing again.

"Luis, I'm going to tell them the truth," Nick says as he turns to face me.

"WHAT?! NO!" I cry, but it's too late, as Nick turns to face Ella and the rest of the squad.

"Truth is…this is something else that we can't tell you about, not until Luis is ready," Nick explains, causing me to let out a sigh of relief. "Long story short, the Chairman is sending Assassin Slayers after Luis. It's going to be Luis and Mikey's promotion exam to graduate from benign Junior Slayers. If we beat them all, they get promoted. If we don't…Luis dies."

Everyone else is silent.

Ella, Grover, Jamie, and Austin exchange nervous glances.

"Die?!" Ella whimpers.

"And why are they being promoted and not me, who got third in the tournament?" Grover grumbles.

"WHAT DID LUIS DO TO GET THE CHAIRMAN TO WANT TO KILL HIM?" Jamie cries.

"If this is Luis' promotion exam, then why do we have to protect him?" Austin asks, before turning to face me. "No offense," he says. I shake my head in response.

"Good question, Austin," Nick replies. "Unfortunately, this falls on the list of things Luis isn't ready to tell people yet."

"Stop making me out to be the bad guy!" I snap.

"So how about it, are you guys in?" Nick asks.

Everyone else is silent.

Ella, Grover, Jamie, and Austin exchange nervous glances.

"There's no way Luis could do something so horrible that the Chairman has a reason to want to kill him! I'm in!" Ella exclaims.

"I don't know what an Assassin Slayer is, but sure!" Jamie chimes in.

"I can't call myself a Pro Slayer or a member of Slayer Hachi's Squad if I let my squad mate die," Austin smirks as he does the anime glasses guy thing again.

Grover turns to face me. "I'll help you in any way I can. I don't want you to die," he begins to say. "But only if you promise me this: once this is all said and done, you tell us the truth."

I ponder Grover's words for a moment, then nod without so much as another thought. "It's a deal," I reply. "After this battle; it's either I die or my secret gets exposed, anyway."

"So what's our actual plan, anyway?" Austin asks.

"I've already thought it out-" Nick begins to say, and then, he explains to us his plan.

The six of us listen to Nick explain his plan for a bit, but then, a light bulb goes off over my head.

"I need to make a phone call, I'll be right back!" I say, then hustle away.

It's time for Mission: Protect Luis to begin.

***

"Where here," Chishiki announces.

"Ah, the dorm house of Slayer Hachi's Squad," Hitoshī replies. "Nice place."

Both men are wearing pitch black gi, like ninja robes, with an accompanying mask as well. Across their chests, shoulders, wrists, ankles, and joints they wear black body armor, as well, with a long black katana attached to the back.

"This mission shouldn't be too difficult, aside from Slayer Hachi. Shall we go in?" Chishiki asks.

"After you," Hitoshī smirks as he motions to the door.

Hitoshī and Chishiki begin approaching the front steps towards Hachi's Squad's formhouse, but they're interrupted when a glowing golden bullet flies through the air towards them, aimed straight for Hitoshī's forehead.

"Sir, look out!" Chishiki cries as he leaps in front of Hitoshī. Chishiki peels off one of his gloves then touches that same hand to the ground. A wall of stone rises out of the ground before Hitoshī, shielding him from the bullet, before retreating back into the ground.

"Good eyes, Chishiki," Hitoshī says. "Mine have gotten dulled with age.

"Nothing to be ashamed of, sir," Chishiki replies. "That must have been Austin Habicht, Slayer Takanome. His Gunsmith Cursed Ability allows him to create guns out of Cursed Power."

"I see you've done your research," Hitoshī cackles.

"I always do, sir," Chishiki replies.

The two Assassins continue towards the dormhouse, but they're interrupted again when a figure in a black clock rises out of the shadows behind them. "There was a time where the word "friend" meant nothing to me. Humans were nothing more than souls. Tools that I reap and consume for my own selfish desires…" the figure says.

Hitoshī pauses, "Did you say something?" Hitoshī asks as he turns to face Chishiki who shakes his head no.

"I did not," he answers.

Then, the two Assassins feel a huge and powerful, yet sinister Cursed Power burst from behind them, oozing with bloodlust. Slowly, the two men turn around to face the Cursed Power, and there they're faced with a figure in a black cloak, oozing black Cursed Power.

"But after meeting Luis, he showed me the light, the meaning of friendship, a life not fixated on revenge," the figure continues.

"And who are you?" Hitoshī snaps.

"I am the son of a man who goes by many names. I am called either the Prince of Hell or the Son of Death, sometimes the Black Demon. But what I am is a different story. I am an ally of the half demon that you two Slayers are after. Luis is my trusted friend who called me here after learning that he was in danger. And so, I shall now fight you two on the behalf of my friend." Black chains with barbed sickles on the end slowly raise out of the figure's shadow, creeping across his body. The figure reaches up and removes his gray samurai helmet, revealing the face of an edgy teenage boy.

"My name is Daniel Reaper, son of Death, the Demon King.