This story was inspired by one of my favourite movies, Aliens, specifically the character of Sergeant Apone. One of my headcanons for the Pillar Squad is that Basilisk is like Sergeant Apone in his manner of speaking and behaviour, so I used a bit of Apone's key lines in this story for Basilisk. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Beelzebub belongs to Ryuuhei Tamura, not me.

Story 21: Search-and-Destroy

Characters: Furuichi, Basilisk, Wasboga, Kne, the Pillar Squad

Pairings: None

Summary: Furuichi accompanies Basilisk and his platoon on a search-and-destroy mission, his very first mission in the Pillar Squad.

Furuichi followed Pillar Baron Basilisk as they made their way to the squadrons' barracks. Today, he was doing some training with Basilisk by accompanying them on a mission: a search and destroy mission to hunt down some sort of species of deadly hellbeast that was running rampage in civilian grounds. Furuichi was feeling a bit nervous, since they were hunting down hellbeasts and not just some wild animal in the Human World. He wondered just how vicious the monsters would be, and just how the hell he could help out.

"You ready for today's mission, lieutenant?" Basilisk asked him as he lit the cigar in his mouth.

Furuichi shrugged. "I'm kinda nervous," he admitted. "It's my first one, after all." He was wearing a uniform identical to Basilisk's, including the trench coat. "Also, it's my first time hunting some wild hellbeast, so I'm pretty nervous about that."

Basilisk chuckled. "Don't worry," he said. "We're gonna go over strategy once I've woken my men up and they're all changed and have had breakfast."

At that moment, they arrived at the squadrons' barracks and Basilisk swung the door open, making his presence clear, if the sudden scent of cigar smoke wasn't enough. At the sound, several of the men groaned as they slowly got out of their bunks.

Basilisk grinned widely as he slammed the butt of his large axe on the ground. "Rise 'n' shine, sleeping beauties!" he ordered. "Whatcha all waiting for, a breakfast in bed?" He strode through the aisle, watching as more grunts dragged themselves out of their bunks as he continued talking, clearly loving his job. "Another wonderful day in the Division. Every meal's a banquet! Every paycheck a fortune! Every formation a parade, I LOVE the Division!"

Furuichi watched in surprise at Basilisk's attitude. Was the Pillar Baron always like this? Well, he did seem to be more of the affable type, but seeing him talking like this was rather jarring. For some reason, this kind of reminded him of Toujou.

"Shit, this floor's freezing," one of the grunts muttered. However, Basilisk heard it and he stopped in front of him.

"What do you want me to do, fetch your slippers?" he asked caustically.

"Gee, would you sir? I'd like that," the grunt retorted, equally sarcastic.

Basilisk glared at him and the grunt seemed to freeze on the spot. "Look into my eye," he barked before turning and walking away. The grunt was frozen for a few seconds before he regained control of himself and put his clothes on.

"We have an important mission today, so get yer asses outta bed and get ready!" Basilisk commanded. "And eat breakfast quick, so we can go over strategy and prepare ourselves." He turned to leave the barracks. "Furuichi, come with me to the mess hall," the Pillar Baron told him. Furuichi nodded and turned to follow him.

In the mess hall, Furuichi sat with Basilisk and his two subordinates, Pillar Generals Wasboga and Kne, as they had breakfast. "So, what's the mission today?" Wasboga asked as he poured himself some coffee.

Basilisk grinned. "It's a search-and-destroy mission, you'll love it!" he said. "There's some nasty hellbeasts from Vlad's Haunt that's terrorizing a nearby town, and we gotta go in there and kill 'em all."

"Has the town already been evacuated?" Kne asked.

"Yeah, it's been evacuated a while ago," Basilisk said. "Also, it's the lieutenant's first search-and-destroy mission, so it'll be a good experience for him." At that moment, he noticed that Furuichi hadn't touched his breakfast at all. "Oi kiddo. Not hungry?"

Furuichi shook his head. "No, not really," he said. "I'm honestly really unnerved about this mission."

"Ah, don't worry, kid," Basilisk reassured him. "All rookies get nervous on their first mission. You'll do fine. Just try and help out whenever you can."

At that moment, they heard the groans of disgust from some of the grunts. "What the hell's up with this shit?" one of them grumbled. "I swear, the more time I spend here, the worse the food gets."

"I know, right?"

Furuichi cracked a wry smile. "He does have a point," he said to Basilisk. "This does look like shit."

"Yeah, I'm just having coffee right now," Kne agreed as he smoked his cigarette. "It's the only thing that's even remotely good around here. Some day, we gotta go out and get some decent food for the base."

Eventually, all of Basilisk's squad had gathered in the meeting room to discuss the mission. Furuichi stood beside Basilisk as Kne and Wasboga pulled out a large map with a red circle around a certain area, marking the location of their mission. Once it was laid out on the table, Basilisk slammed the butt of his axe on the ground, silencing all conversations.

"Alright, so here's the mission," Basilisk started as he pulled out a sketch of a hideous, Lovecraftian creature. "You know what these are. We encountered them on an extermination mission in Vlad's Haunt before. Now, these hellbeasts have invaded a nearby town, which has already been evacuated, and they need to be destroyed. We go into the town, we search them out, and we destroy them with no mercy." Basilisk blew a puff of smoke from his cigar as he finished. He then gestured to Furuichi.

"This mission is the lieutenant's first mission," he said. "He'll be coming along with us and helping out whenever he can."

Wasboga stepped up. "This is our plan," he started. "We will divide you up in groups, and assign different parts of the town to each of you. Search every inch of the area, and even though the town has already been evacuated, do not damage or destroy anyone's property. If you see a hellbeast, destroy it. Don't hesitate, because they'll kill you on sight."

Kne stepped forward. "Alright, now let's go to the weapon room and prepare ourselves," he ordered.

Furuichi followed the grunts to the weapons room to look for a suitable weapon to use. He looked around the shelves, looking for anything that stood out. There were knives, swords, machetes, crossbows, axes, spears, sickles, and then there were the huge, menacing hybrid weapons that could kill anyone on the spot. Wasboga saw Furuichi struggling to pick a weapon and picked out a medium-sized axe. "Oi, lieutenant," he said.

Furuichi turned to face the demon. "Yeah?"

Wasboga handed him the axe. "Here, use this," he told him. "It'll be easy for you to use."

He nodded. "Thanks," he said.

"Attention!" All the grunts stood straight as Basilisk entered the room. "At ease."

Furuichi watched as Basilisk looked around, eyeing his platoon sternly. "We're heading out," he said. "Now listen to me. You're a team, there's nothing to worry about. We go there, and we're gonna conquer, and we're gonna kick ass, is that understood? Alright people, let's move! Are ya lean?" he demanded.

"Yeah!" the squadrons shouted, holding their respective weapons up.

"Are ya mean?" Basilisk demanded.

"Yeah!"

"What are you?!"

"LEAN AND MEAN!" By now, all the squadrons were looking fierce and ready to fight.

"Good!" Basilisk grinned. "Move out, everyone! Let's go! Furuichi, you come with me!"

Furuichi looked around the empty town, feeling a small chill running down his spine. The town was very quiet, save for the footsteps of the various squadrons in different locations. Right now, both Basilisk and himself were searching through an abandoned house.

"You okay, kid?" Basilisk asked him.

Furuichi turned to look at Basilisk. "Basilisk, just what made you decide to take me on this mission?" he asked. This was a question that had been nagging at him for some time now.

Basilisk stopped for a moment. "What's the problem?" He turned to face Furuichi.

Furuichi lowered his eyes as he felt his face heat up in embarrassment. "Well, I'm not exactly fighting material, and this mission is meant for demons, not humans. So, why'd you decide to bring me along?"

Basilisk raised an eyebrow. "For you to gain experience," he said. "Since you're our contractor, you'll need as much experience as you can get if you want to become strong enough to harness our powers." He looked around him, trying to see if there were any potential monsters hiding. "Besides, you're a strong boy, Furuichi. You have a lot of potential, so don't underestimate that."

Furuichi was surprised at the compliment, but mostly because of how genuine it sounded. But before he could say anything, he saw Basilisk hold his hand out toward him, shushing him. "Do you hear that?" Basilisk asked, his voice quiet.

Right then, they heard it. A low, unearthly growl from the shadows of the house had them on high alert as they looked around them. Furuichi looked around him nervously as he held his axe up when he suddenly felt himself being pushed down to the ground. "Get down!" Basilisk shouted as he swung his axe.

Furuichi looked up in shock and saw a hideous hellbeast on the table, snarling and glaring at them. It was very much a Lovecraftian creature, with an unearthly appearance and an unearthly growl with glowing red eyes. As it roared, Basilisk glared at it, causing it to freeze in its spot, before swinging his axe. "Man Cleaver!" he shouted, bringing his axe down on the creature, destroying it.

At that moment, they heard the sounds of growls from other places, as well as the aggressive shouts from the squadrons as they destroyed the creatures. Furuichi and Basilisk quickly ran out of the house to help the others when Kne and Wasboga ran up to them.

"Sir! We've just killed a whole bunch of them in our area!" Kne said.

"Good! Let's help out the others then!" Basilisk commanded.

Within a couple of minutes, all the hellbeasts were destroyed. Of course, some of the squadrons were pretty badly wounded, including Furuichi himself. However, for what it was worth, the mission was actually pretty successful. Currently, Furuichi was in the infirmary at the headquarters, and Dr. Furcas was taking care of a gash on his arm when Basilisk entered the room, making his way to Furuichi's bed.

"Well, what'd ya think, kid?" he asked as he lit a cigar in his mouth.

Furuichi winced in pain. "It was… okay, I guess," he admitted before giving him a sheepish smile. "I must've dragged you down a lot, Basilisk. I mean, you also had to make sure I wasn't being too reckless when fighting those hellbeasts, right?"

Basilisk looked at Furuichi in surprise before a friendly smile crossed his face. "You did good, Furuichi. For your first mission, you managed to fight back pretty well." He remembered how he and Furuichi worked together to destroy one of the hellbeasts. Basilisk froze it on the spot with his gaze while Furuichi used the tissues to power him up and destroy the creature. This kid was definitely going to be a great lieutenant, he could tell.

He reached out and patted Furuichi on the head. "I look forward to doing more missions with you in the future," he told him. "As I said before, Furuichi, you have a lot of potential so don't underestimate that."

Furuichi smiled. He never would've thought that Basilisk was this affable and encouraging, but he could see why the squadrons really respected him. He was definitely like a father to his platoon. He couldn't help but look forward to more missions with him.