Mifune's life had not gone as he expected. Having gone from a wandering ronin to a hitman for mobsters, to the guardian of a young witch, to a servant for the heretic witch Arachne, to a teacher at the DWMA and a guardian of order (and mentor to a student whose father he killed), his life had taken many unexpected turns. The latest of these turns, however, had put him here. On the far edge of an isolated village in Romania, in the middle of the night.

Perching himself on the grass near a large stone arch, the samurai's thoughts drifted to how his life had been since its' latest unexpected turn. It had felt odd, to say the least, having the students refer to him as "Mr. Mifune", to say nothing of how awkward it was to fight alongside troops who he'd been killing not to long ago. Then there was the matter of Angela.

Being a teacher meant that Angela was often left in the care of the school's secretary, a woman of many talents, but being a babysitter was not one of them. In just the first week at the Academy, Angela had managed to sneak off and wreck Stein's lab (Stein was not amused), made it so Kilik couldn't do resonance practice because she'd managed to get both the Pots join her in a game of tag, got a scissors and snipped Ox's hair and one of Maka's pigtails (though Maka didn't go catatonic for half a day, unlike Ox), scribbled on Kid's suit with a magic marker (Kid soon joined Ox in a coma), keyed Soul's motorcycle, mastered invisibility well enough to scare Crona into a corner, messed up Liz's nail painting, and finally, interrupted one of Black Star's speeches by kicking him in the balls, yet again (though Mifune didn't hear many complaints about that, except by Black Star). Even now, little drops of embarrassment formed on Mifune's head as he recalled his last call to Angela and how she'd stolen Lord Death's mask and proclaimed herself the new Lord Death.

Still, there were positives. Having a place to stay where the occupants weren't all cultists bent on world domination was a definite improvement. Also, being near people who he didn't suspect of wanting to use Angela as collateral in order to force him to fight for them was definitely a plus. Lord Death had even agreed to help (with the aid of an anonymous witch living in Death City) curb the influence of magic on Angela. Now that he thought about it, being called "Mr. Mifune" wasn't so bad, really. Plus, watching Angela just playing tag with other kids was kind of nice, even if it was a nightmare to clean up after. Mifune smirked a little at the memory.

"Mifune!" a stern voice called, bringing Mifune out of his thoughts. The samurai glanced up to see the blue figure of Sid the zombie hastily beckoning to him from a nearby tree clearing. "Black Star and the others have just come back! Plus, they have the package with them, so we should go meet up with them, since I never was the kind of man to keep people waiting!"

Rising to his feet, Mifune gathered his swords, thinking to himself about how Black Star would probably behave and wondering whether or not he should count him as a positive or a negative. Deciding not to contemplate that problem, Mifune picked up the pace and headed toward Sid and the rest of the group.

Gathered near a ledge overlooking the pathway into the nearby town, was the group of Sid, Azusa, the main seven, and about 30 DWMA troops. Of course, no one in the group drew more attention than Black Star, who was currently giving a speech, listing all the gods he'd surpassed (because Tsubaki made the mistake of watching a documentary on ancient religions while he was in the room, but that's another story).

"Still haven't changed, have you Black Star?" Mifune remarked, smirking a bit as he played with the piece of wheat in his mouth. Taking notice of the samurai, Black Star turned to Mifune, his grin becoming even larger (which no one thought humanly possible). "Of course not Mifune, why would anyone want to change perfection?"

"Enough." A stern voice interrupted. The others looked to see the serious face of Azusa Yumi. "We will cease this nonsense and return to the topic at hand." She commanded, reaching up to touch the frame of her glasses. "Or do I need to insist?" She continued.

A suddenly very nervous and very quiet Black Star simply shook his head. "No maim."

Mifune thought to himself, "She's even found a way to keep Black Star quiet. Maybe I should ask her for some training...or start wearing a pair of glasses."

His thoughts were interrupted as Sid began their briefing. "From what we know so far, reports began coming in about a week ago of people in the village of Nebun acting strangely, as though they were under the influence of madness. We sent some field agents to investigate, but by the time they got here, almost the entire village had been infected, so we quarantined it."

"So, what does any of this have to do with the witch, Ponera?" Maka questioned.

"Well, shortly before the outbreak started, there were reports of a witch being sighted in the town, fitting Ponera's description, along with a mysterious man carrying some sort of spell book, who both seemed to be studying those people affected by the madness. I never was the kind of man to be thick-headed or believe in coincidence, so I'd say those two are probably responsible."

"What about those freaks we met earlier?" Black Star snorted, somewhat bored.

"I'll take that question Sid." Azusa cut in. "After the battle with Arachnophobia, pieces were found missing from the morality manipulation machine. At roughly the same time, some of Ponera's henchman were spotted leaving the scene. Later, our intelligence spotted the Horseman heading toward this area, carrying some sort of package. Since I'm also not a great believer in coincidence and since we'd already requested your assistance, you were sent after him. I should finish by stating that it's our belief that they're somehow using parts gathered from Arachne's machine to induce this madness. Naigus was inside, gathering intel, when some interference caused her radio to be disrupted, but not before she told us to meet her at the town cathedral in about one hour."

"Then, what action are we going to take?" Kid inquired. "Yeah! What's the plan?" Black Star chimed in, earning him another silencing glare from Azusa.

Mifune stepped forward. "First you should know, that we've had that thing you recovered sent back to Professor Stein's lab at the Academy. Second, since we can't just plow through and kill these villagers, we'll sneak in using the villages' hidden sewer systems, which we mapped with Azusa's help. We'll all meet up with Naigus at the cathedral, hopefully she'll be able to give us some insight on where Ponera's hiding. Third, and finally, be on the lookout for some of Ponera's other henchmen. I know some of them personally, and they're not easy opponents."

"Hmph. Like that means much to me, I'll plow through em' all just the same." Black Star interrupted.

Annoyed, Mifune continued. "The first is a giant called Kill Bell, and from what some of the escaping villagers have told us, he used to be considered the town's personal freak, the one everyone avoided, whether he did anything wrong or not" Mifune spoke, a hint of disgust in his voice, "that is, until Ponera got a hold of him and started inciting him to attack and kill the villagers that attempted to leave." He continued, "Next is Alone, a werewolf and an immortal like Free. He began craving power and eventually wandered onto the Path of the Demon, feeding off innocent souls. The result was that he now has greater attack power, but he's mortal, so he can be killed, though I doubt it's easy."

Mifune's face became more serious as he spat out the wheat in his mouth. "The last one, though, is the toughest. A swordsman named Nals, called the Unbreakable Blade. I worked with him a few times. The last thing I'd heard of him was that he abandoned the Path of the Warrior and began consuming souls to increase his attack power. He's not like most kishin eggs, though, he retains his human shape and intelligence, due to an extreme level of mental discipline he's maintained. He's not someone to underestimate."

"Alright," Sid finished, "everyone take separate routes to the cathedral so we don't draw attention, while Azusa stays her to keep in contact with the Academy. Be tough, be smart, and please don't get killed."

Before Black Star could make another comment, Tsubaki placed a hand over his mouth, joining the others in nodding seriously before they departed.

Sid turned from the group to face Mifune, who was currently watching the group split up. "Thinking about something, samurai?" Sid inquired.

Mifune turned to face Sid, smirking a little. "Oh, I was just thinking that my life hasn't gone the way I expected."

Sid just blankly stated, "I'm a zombie, so that doesn't mean much to me."

Mifune simply sweatdropped in response. "Something else I didn't expect." He thought to himself, unaware of the silent witness to this conversation...a small red ant.

"Kid, have I ever told you that you take us to the nicest places?" The eldest Brooklyn devil commented, annoyed at the smell of sewage currently occupying the air space.

"In my defense, Liz, things could be worse" the young shinigami responded, currently squinting his eyes to see in light provided by the small flashlight in his pocket, as he focused steering his skateboard through the narrow sewer tunnels, above a small river of sewage "for example, I could have forgotten to bring along Beelzebub and then I'd have to have one of you carry me, so my clothes wouldn't get soiled."

A vein throbbed in Liz's forehead. "Why do I not find that comforting?"

Over in Kid's other hand, the youngest Thompson simply giggled.

After that, there was a long silence, save for the sound of Beelzebub's jets as Kid's thoughts drifted elsewhere.

"Hey, Kid?" Liz asked, her voice holding a concerned tone.

"Hmm?" Kid responded, somewhat distracted.

"You're still thinking about what happened when your lines connected, aren't you?"

Kid sighed. "It's not just the fact that I was actually symmetrical for once, as though that weren't enough. It's that power unlocked and those cracks that I heard appeared on Dad's mask." Kid's eyes shifted. "Plus, there's something else."

"What?"

"A remark Asura made when he was fighting my father. Do you remember when he said-"

"Hey, look!" Patty interrupted.

Startled a little, Kid and Liz looked ahead to see a small manhole cover at the roof of the tunnel.

"According to the map Azusa gave us, this should be where we get out." Kid stated, pushing the cover up.

Carefully peering out from beneath the cover, Kid strained to see in the bright light that was currently shining in his face. Pushing the cover up until it fell flat on the floor. Putting away Beelzebub, Kid looked to see that the tunnel had led to what seemed to be a well decorated theater.

"Hmm...a theater, if I weren't on a mission, I might catch a show, provided the choreography was perfectly symmetrical, of course." The shinigami fondly stated, stepping out from under the blinding stage light and admiring the alignment of the crystal chandeliers and red velvet curtains."

"Oooh, a theater!" Patty burst out, excitement bubbling over in her voice. "Does this mean we can catch a cool action movie when we get done?"

"Not that kind of theater, Patty." Liz corrected.

"What a minute" Kid blurted out, his eyes widening as he came to a conclusion. "If the town's been abandoned, then who left on these lights?"

As Kid spoke he didn't notice the silent figure, crouching behind him, readying it's blade to cleave at his neck. The figure took a silent breath, then sliced.

"Kid, look out!" Liz warned.

Alerted, Kid maneuvered Patty to block the swordsman's blade. There was a clang as the blade met the steel of Kid's gun, followed by a volley of shots, which the figure expertly dodged.

A thick silence hung in the air as Kid stared down his opponent. The figure before him was a tall, somewhat pale man, with medium length dark blue hair, brown eyes, dark boots, coat, gloves, and jacket, with a white Victorian-style shirt underneath and, most strikingly, a series of belts running across his face and one of his arms, which seemed to be attached to the rapier blade he was currently pointing at Kid.

"I believe you've heard of me" he spoke, his icy voice breaking the silence. "I am known as Nals, the Unbreakable Blade, and I'm here to claim your life, reaper."

"Really." Kid spoke, narrowing his eyes as he took his mortal sin stance. "Do try."

Okay, that's it until next chapter. Sorry if it took too long to write and I hope it was fun to read. In case your wondering, Nals, Alone and Kill Bell are all characters from Monotone Princess, so if you know the game, you should be familiar with them. I should have the next chapter up in about 2 weeks. Till then, please remember to REVIEW, since I really want to know whether I'm pleasing anyone with this or not. Ciao for now!