Episode 25: Xmas isn't Only About Getting Gifts, Ya Know!

Blair turned around. Black Star had his head hung low and his shoulders dropped as he heaved a heavy sigh and said, "Okay. What do I have to do?"

Hearing this, Blair looked up to the Grinning Moon, its menacing 'smile' matched hers.

Everything is in place. Now, all that's left is for tomorrow …

3:00 p.m., the next day— It was the 24th, the day of the Xmas Eve Party, and the classic song 'Jingle Bells' repeated itself over the loud speakers. With only 4 hours to go before the celebration starts, the main streets of Death City were filled with students, parents, tourists, and the like. The official counting has pegged the number of visitors to almost a million.

As expected, the event was covered by the international media as the largest costumed celebration of its kind in the world. While many of reporters were scattered along the streets interviewing passersby, others opted to get a bird's eye view and ascended to the rooftops instead.

"Wow! I've never seen so many people!" gasped Marie as she and Azusa manned the screens of the Death Room.

"I agree. It seems I've underestimated the number of visitors. This is most distressing," she sighed. Switching from one camera to the next, she found the situation even more troubling as more and more people flooded the streets, the witches they monitored were growing more difficult to pick out in a crowd of costumed creatures.

"Hello! Hello! Happy Halloween!" the Shinigami hollered. Adorning a bright red Santa suit, he entered riding a small sleigh drawn by actual reindeers.

"Happy Halloween, Shinigami-sama!" greeted Marie.

"Halloween? Shouldn't it be Merry Xmas?" Azusa corrected him and then pointed to his outfit, "That doesn't suit you. Now, where is your real Xmas costume?"

"But this IS my Xmas costume," he said, looking quite confused.

"Really?" Azusa suddenly realized something dire, "Wait! That means-"

"Merry Xmas everybody!" Blair shouted, as she entered the Death Room. In contrast to her greeting though, she appeared wearing a flowing black robe with a large scythe in hand. With a wicked skull masking her face, she greeted them once more a Merry Xmas as she pulled in a cart-full of gifts.

"Wow! So this is what the Halloween-Xmas celebration means," Marie complemented the switching.

"I bear gifts!" cheered Blair, placing a large one on a desk only to open it and reveal a skull-shaped chocolate cake.

"The mission hasn't been completed and yet you're already celebrating?" Azusa asked suspiciously.

"Yummy! That looks delicious!" the Shinigami brought out his china set.

"Shinigami-sama, this is serious! We can't allow ourselves to be distracted by-"

"Come on, where's your holiday spirit?" chuckled Blair, setting a large thermos on the table.

"Nothing's happening, right? So why don't you join us, Azusa." said Marie, pouring herself a drink from a tea pot.

"You too, Marie!" she screamed. Her friend could only reply with a wry smile. Almost losing her composure, Azusa tried to reaffirm the situation before it went out of control. She looked at them with all seriousness and flashed her glasses—chilling the atmosphere— "Ahem… well, regardless of the occasion, we still have a mission to complete. As such, it stands to reason that we should prioritize it above-"

"Itadakimasu!" they said.

"ARE YOU GUYS EVEN LISTENING TO ME!" Azusa lost her composure in the end.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the desert, the sound of an engine echoed throughout. Then, a large dune buggy with a coffin attached to it jumped out from behind the dunes. Driven by none other than the Death Scythe Justin Law, it roared across the sands heading straight for Death City.

Almost an hour later, it reached the front door of Maka & Soul's apartment building. After turning off the engine, Justin got down and dusted himself off. Curiously enough, his usual priestly garbs were damaged and torn. He also had scrapes and bruises on his arms and body as though he just come from a fight. Furthermore, there were black rings under his eyes. He looked up at the clear blue sky and yawned. His shoulders dropped and he had to lean on his ride to keep himself from falling down.

Then, the doors of the apartment opened up and out came Maka. "Law-san!* What happened to you? Are you alright?" she asked.

"I'm fine," he groaned, opening the coffin and showing her an unconscious Soul. Just like him, the boy was covered with light wounds and bruises. He also had dark rings underneath his eyes.

"Soul! W-What happened to him?" she gasped.

Now leaning on one of the wheels of his ride, he massaged the back of his neck and said, "Yesterday, he insisted that I train him to become a solo fighter. I'm not really sure what he was thinking, but he wanted to learn in one night what I could teach him in a month. So, we trained throughout the night until a few hours ago when he finally dropped like a rock."

"I…see," Maka seemed saddened if not disappointed after hearing this.

"Anyway, I have to go and speak to the Shinigami, so I'll leave this guy in your care," he said. Unfortunately, since the main roads were filled with people, Justin had to hoof it.

At the same time, back at the Death Room, tea time was almost over. With Blair the Witch and Marie finishing their last cup of Darjeeling, Azusa couldn't help but urge them to get back to work.

"Fine…we get it already," Blair puffed her cheeks at the party pooper. As Marie took away the china, Blair gathered up her stuff and headed to the exit, "Well, I still got more gifts to deliver before its show time so see ya!"

With her departure, Azusa heaved a sigh of relief. "Finally, we can get back to wo— what the!" she noticed something at the corner of her eye.

"Is something wrong?" asked the Shinigami as Azusa frantically typed on the keyboard. She displayed the live feed from each and every camera on one large screen to confirm her fears.

"We have a problem," she could only say as the witches and their kiosks were nowhere to be seen.

Elsewhere, Blair the Witch was busy checking her Xmas list. With the names of Marie and Azusa crossed off, all that was left were the names of Spirit and Stein.

"Merry Xmas!" she greeted them in the school's cafeteria.

"What do you want?" snapped Spirit, munching on a club sandwich. Still wearing the usual black suit with red tie, the smelly Death Scythe hid no secret of his hygiene. He probably hasn't taken a bath since the incident with Maka's blades.

"I bear gifts!" she smiled, placing two items on the table before them. For Stein, it was a small rectangular box while for Spirit, it was a picture frame—the shape was a dead giveaway.

"Isn't it a bit early to celebrate?" Stein said, mimicking the same cold expression of Azusa, "If the plan fails…dire consequences would certainly befall its planner, wouldn't it?" he said with a smile that betrayed the utter contempt he tried so much to conceal.

"I'm certain it would," Blair chuckled as she went on her way.

Considering that that wasn't the typical response one would expect from a threat, Stein couldn't help but question the plan and her motives even more as he peeled the wrapper of his present.

"DEATH" was the label of the black cigarette box with a skull and crossbones logo. "How nostalgic," he thought.

As for Spirit, he waited until the witch was out of sight before quickly ripping off the wrapper of his present which was none other than the picture of a smiling Maka wearing a white dress…and married to Soul.

"NOOOO!" a loud cry echoed throughout the school.

Author's Notes: First and foremost, I would like to thank you guys for your patience in waiting for this update! Thanks for bearing with me! T_T

Clarification: * "Law-san!" - was used 'coz (basing on the anime only) I really don't know how Maka addresses him... If you guys are reading the manga, please correct me... Thanks!

Anyway, as we move ever closer to the climax... I'll try my best to update before this week ends... So stay tuned! (or something like that)