"YAAAAHHOOOO! Black Star on stage front and center YEAH! A big star is here to perform in your tiny village come on out everybody!"

-Black*Star


Operation: Evil Puppet Master

"YAY! I love puppets! Thanks "Mom" and "Dad", you guys are the best," Patty smirks. Liz and Terrance sigh as they try to stay in character. They are both dressed in nice slacks and button up shirts. Liz has her hair in a bun and they are both wearing glasses. Patty had to wrap up her breasts to keep them from popping out so much, and she was dressed in a white sun dress. The little "family" sat in the front row, waiting for the puppet show to begin.

Kid and I are in an office building nearby running surveillance. We need to keep an eye on our weapons and watch after the many children attending the show. "I have to hand it to you Liz, you make excellent disguises," I say into the walkie-talkie. Everyone is wearing wires to keep in contact with each other for this mission. "Hmm, thanks. I am pretty excellent," she answers smugly. "Or it's just that she looks too old," Kid says offhandedly. I'm pretty glad she didn't hear that. "Maka? Soul? How are you guys doing?" "We're fine, we've been snooping back stage and I think we have determined where his trailer is parked. It should be in an alley near us," a determined Maka answers back. "Look at all of this kid stuff, it's so uncool," I hear Soul complain in the background.

I can't quite figure out where Black*Star went. I know that sneaking isn't like him and it was useless to count on him until a fight. I finally spot him on the other side of the crowd, trying to arm wrestle people. I guess he's trying to win the attention of the crowd. Tsubaki is acting as an announcer, but it's clear that she is frustrated.

I turn my attention back to the stage. It looks like the show is about to start. It looks like it's going to be about Sleeping Beauty. Liz and Terrance look like they are alert, but that could easily be mistaken as stern. Patty is fitting in really well with the kids, at least until I hear her say, "A kiss to wake her up? Daddy would have to do a lot more than that to wake you up Mom." Liz got some funny looks from a few parents.

-With Maka and Soul-

"Well, this looks like his trailer," Maka says triumphantly. She uses her soul perception and doesn't sense anything. "Soul… if there are any of the missing kids here, then they are already dead."

Soul tries to open the door, but realizes it's locked. He turns his pinky into a tiny scythe and uses it to pick the lock. "Don't worry, I'll check it out. A cool guy wouldn't let his partner see something bad." After giving her a thumb up he walks inside.

The smell hit him before anything else. It was dark inside the trailer, but he could see all that he needed to. Some of the bodies were handing from the ceiling like animals would in a butcher shop.

"Kid. Mai. Can you guys hear me?" He calls in with his microphone. "Yes. What did you discover?" Kid answers. "Well, we have the right guy. It's bad. It looks like they were tortured. There are no survivors."

-With Mai and Kid-

"That's awful. Let's peel his skin off with a potato peeler," I whisper under my breath. Kid and I got back to watching out for our friends. We were also determined to not let any children go wondering off, just in case this monster didn't work alone. After a few minutes of silence, Kid reaches over and reassuringly pats my back. "Sometimes I agree."

The show finally ends. We patiently watch, since we haven't made a visual of the puppeteer. "There he is, to the left of the stage by that tree," I alert Kid to the situation. "I better get those three over there, I see him talking to a little girl," Kid says full of distain. We alert everyone to the situation.

Maka and Soul wait at the trailer, in case he gets away. Liz, Patty, and Terrance will get there first. Black*Star and Tsubaki start running to the tree. I grab Kid's hand and run to the stairwell. "Wait, get on my back," he says suddenly. I quickly climb on. I figured he was going to call out that skateboard. I trusted him, so I didn't question it. I'm glad I wear shorts under my skirt.

-With Liz, Patty, and Terrance-

Terrance was the first to get there. He quickly ran up and grabbed the brunette little girl, before she got too close to the man. The girl was shocked and screamed in surprise. Sensing that he was discovered, the balding man looked up and said, "Oh dear, I usually eat the smaller portions. I guess I can package the three of you up as leftovers." He then morphed into a demonic looking clown. His arms had grown and contorted, and he crawled like a spider. The monster moved quickly towards Terrance, but Liz provided suppressive fire by using her sister as a gun.

Kid and I reached the scene next. I hopped off his back and ran to Terrance as he called for Liz and Patty. I took the girl from Terrance's arms and he transformed into a staff. "It'll be ok, big sis will protect you," I said to calm her down. Kid artfully shot at the kishin. I couldn't do much besides defend us from projectiles, since I had the extra burden of the child. The Kishin roared and looked like he was charging up some attack.

"Yaahhhoooo!"

An excited cry breaks the air as Black*Star finally makes his entrance. "I don't introduce myself to creeps who hurt kids!" He yells as he leaps in to attack. Kid sends a burst of his cannon and with their two powers combined, the demon is sliced through the middle.

I radio for Maka and Soul to tell them that it's over. Kid is talking to his father and making a report. Tsubaki is bowing and apologizing for Black*Star, while he wonders off to get food. I'm beginning to wonder about how to find this little girl's parents.

"Val! Oh, honey, there she is!" I hear a middle aged woman scream and drag her husband over to us. "Mommy! Daddy! There was a scary clown, but it went boom," she tells them happily while running to them. I identify myself with my badge and explained the situation. They looked so relieved and thanked us as they walked away.

"You handled that nicely," I hear Kid complement me from behind, "Thank you for saving me from that task." "Oh, sure thing," I say as I turn around. Kid looks at me with his eyes a bit wide and reaches his hand out. He moves a bit of my hair from one side to the other, and then I feel his fingers on my cheek as he tucks my hair behind my ear. "Much better, back to being beautifully symmetrical," he smirks and then marches off to call for a clean-up team.

As soon as I realized what happened, my face turned red. I hear a giggle and look up at Maka. It looks like she was just in time to see what happened. She looks like she's suppressing her laughter. I look at her indignantly and shake it off. There's paper work to be done.

Later that night, my three roommates and I roll into our apartment. It had been a busy day, and we all sat around the kitchen table to work on some homework. "There's more homework here than I thought there would be, it is more of a trade school after all," Terrance groaned. "Well, you could call Liz and ask her for help. I did see you get her number after the mission," Maka teased with a coy smile. "Dude, seriously? That's pretty cool," Soul said and went to give him a high-five, but Terrance had hidden his red face in his arms. "Here Soul, can't leave you hanging," I say as I give him the high-five instead.

Terrance finally snapped out of it and we all finished our assignments. Soul finally breaks the silence and says, "Dude, seriously, if you get past a certain base, you have to share the details-" "MAKA CHOP!"

"Well, goodnight guys," I say as I pack up my things to make my exit. "Going to bed first? You ok?" Terrance asks concerned. "Oh, she's fine. Maybe just a touch of death, but nothing that can't be cured," Maka teases. The guys obviously didn't get the joke, but I was not going to be questioned about it. I walked to my room and plopped on my bed.

Was he doing that because of his OCD? Or did he say that because he thought I was beautiful? Are things going to be weird at school on Monday? I glance out my window, then get up and walk over to it. I see the academy in the distance. Suddenly, movement catches my eye. I look down and see something odd. A black fox again? I looked up at me and winked? That's really weird. I'm pretty sure those don't exist. I'll ask Maka about it when she isn't being insufferable.

-At Kid's house-

Kid was worried that he had revealed too much. "Arg! She's clever, pretty, and symmetrical. I'm pretty sure I have a crush on her, but what in the world do I do?" By the end of his fight against himself he determined that he would ask his father to put him on a mission with Mai. Maybe if the two of them got to know each other and went to another country for a mission he could have more clarity. Hmmm, who could he get advice from on how to act during the trip?


Notes:

I am getting a Beta reader (hopefully) to go over my previous chapters and make sure that the grammar is correct and to help improve this story.

Who should Kid ask for advice from?

The next mission will explain those foxes that Mai has been seeing.

Crona is not going on mission right now, but will later. He is doing some really tough training to get Ragnarok to be more cooperative.