The white creature standing before Crona and Ragnarok struck his cane against the ground and turned to face them.

"I am the legendary sword Excalibur. Young man, what are you called?"

"Ummm, my name is Crona and this is Ragnarok."

"Fool. Did I ask who your companion was? I already know you both; asking your names is merely a polite formality." Quickly Excalibur turned to face away from the pair and rested both of his arms on top of his cane. "My legend dates back to the 12th century!"

Crona's eyes grew wide and his face distorted in confusion as he scrambled to his feet.

"But that is so old! Wouldn't he have…rusted or something? I just don't understand how he could be so old!" Crona said out loud to himself.

"Fool. Age is not determined by years but by beauty! No, that isn't right. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! And thus, I found myself competing in the most important beauty pageant in the world. THE MISS UNIVERSE PAGEANT!"

"But…isn't that only for girls?" whispered Crona to Ragnarok.

"There I was, standing on the stage in front of millions of people. First was the swimsuit portion. Needless to say I won with my physique and extraordinary taste for fine fashion. The girls could not hide their surprise and doubt in their own abilities. Next was the talent portion. It is easy to guess that I would choose to sing and dance, my two most natural talents."

"Well Crona, can we even know that that isn't a girl? I mean…no pants…no…" whispered Ragnarok back.

"So I danced and sang. And sang and danced. I covered the entire stage twirling and pointing my toes. The crowd loved me and the judges couldn't look at any of the other contestants the same way. But they always say that the determining factor in most pageants is the interview. Judge number one looked me in the eye and said, 'What would you do to end world hunger?' The audience silenced in anticipation of my answer. The other contestants began to sweat.

'FOOL. The answer is in the question!'

"The crowd burst into applause and the judges wiped the tears of pure ecstasy from their eyes. Never before had they heard such words of wisdom and never again would they hear any as wise as mine.

"And thus, I realized my flair for the ancient art of origami." From nowhere Excalibur revealed a perfect replica of himself folded from starched silk.

"What?" yelled Ragnarok. "Well, did ya win? Huh, small fry?"

"Fool. Winning is not of importance, but the glory is eternal."

"Can ya believe this little guy Crona? What a cream puff, huh?" snickered The Demon Sword. "Winning is everything! Because if ya aren't a winner, you're a loser."

"You ignorant parasite!" Excalibur exclaimed pointing his cane at Ragnarok. "Do you know of my hat?"

"I know it's ugly, twerp!"

"Fool. This hat is actually an origami hat modeled after the hat I customarily wear. The craftsmanship is so flawless that you were unable to distinguish it from the hat that usually resides upon my head.

"Young man, may I ask you a question?" he inquired turning his cane to point toward the pink haired boy's face.

"What?" whispered Crona with his mouth gaping. He completely understood how lame the legendary Excalibur truly was, but he didn't know how to deal with him and had been in a trance since the white anteater first began his story.

"I said, may I ask you a question?"

"Ummm, y..y….yes."

"FOOL. A meister must never answer questions unless the question is worthy of an answer. A meister is generally expected to be the asker of the questions. So young man, do you understand?"

Crona had no idea what was expected of him. His face twisted in confusion and then fainted, landing on top of Ragnarok.

"Gmmmmmoooffffmmmmeeeeee!" Ragnarok grunted trying to use his tiny arms to roll Crona's body over.

"When I was a big guy this wouldn't a happened!" he thought to himself. "But that Maka made me this way!"

Excalibur walked over and using his cane, easily rolled Crona over onto his stomach.

"Ragnarok, it truly has been too long, has it not?"

"Excalibur? Ya been acting this whole time? I thought you were a nut! And I woulda never guessed I'd see ya again. When Arthur pulled you from the stone he tossed me aside. But I don't hold a grunge any more. Crona gets me good food and I can sleep any time."

"A nut? Why yes, I do suppose I act like a different man. But as to why I am like this, I simply find it entertaining. And the thousand provisions, just a way of maintaining a decadent life style. Maybe I have taken it too far. Maybe I have been this way for too long. Maybe it is time to change."

"Ehhh whatever!" Ragnarok said to himself and morphed back into Crona's body.

After hours in which Excalibur pondered his position in life, told the unconscious Crona and uncaring Ragnarok the shortened version of the five hour story telling party, and did his daily vocal exercises, Crona finally began to stir. When he finally became conscious he pushed himself up and sat down. He took a minute to look around before realizing where he was. The look of confusion and horror returned to his face.

"Young man. What do you see?" asked Excalibur suddenly holding a Rorschach test inches from Crona's face.

Crona scrambled backward, tilted his head and looked at the inkblot. Ragnarok popped out of Crona's back and shook his head. Excalibur acted how he did more because it was his personality than because he found it amusing.

"Ummm. I guess it looks like…Lord Death."

"Fool. There is nothing on this page but an inkblot. I did not imply that you should search for a deeper meaning in the ink on this page.

"Demon Sword. What do you see?"

Ragnarok, who had completely ignored the entire conversation except for Crona's answer, zeroed his X marked eyes in on the Rorschach test. He rubbed his head in confusion and stretched forward to see if he was missing the picture of Lord Death somewhere in the ink.

"All I see is ink," he admitted, feeling like an idiot

Excalibur, mistaking Ragnarok's answer for a gesture of allegiance against the pink haired boy, quickly turned away from the duo and placed a hand upon his chin. He might have just found his next meister.

"Demon Sword. Answer me this. I begin each morning with…"

"Well, if ya are anything like me," Ragnarok pondered out loud, "Then ya'd begin your morning with a cup a coffee with cream."

"Next. I hate…"

"Carrots. Easy. My last meister may a abandoned me, but that doesn't mean I didn't stay in his castle. Ya demanded that all the carrots in the kingdom be thrown into his dungeon."

"Finally, if a train is traveling at 41 miles per hour and a cat is running next to it and they both leave the station at the same time, how much sooner will the cat end up at the next train station if it is 300 miles away?"

Ragnarok shouted, "How the hell am I supposed to know? Why am I even answering your stupid questions!"

"Exactly! Brilliant!" Excalibur exclaimed while executing a perfect turn with a pointed toe. "A meister must never answer questions unless the question is worthy of an answer. Questions about me are of the upmost importance and deserve an answer. But I am allergic to cats; they give me sneezing fits. A cat will never merit a meister's time."

Crona's mouth dropped open. He could not even begin to comprehend what was happening, but he was beginning to have a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"Ragnarok, do you wish to wield The Holy Sword and become a king? Together we can rule the world. And plus, the pink haired boy can manage my provisions since you two are connected."

Ragnarok's eyes grew wide in surprise. He had not expected Excalibur to offer his power to a sword. But the surprise soon disappeared and was replaced by another emotion.

"Sure Excalibur! Since I became little I've been missing the power I used to have over people. I wouldn't mind being a king, he he. Ya hear that, Crona?" Ragnarok asked hitting Crona on the head. "I'm gonna be in charge again! No more being pushed around for us. People are going to learn to fear us again like they are supposed to. Excalibur, grant me your power!"

"Certainly!"

Crona watched in horror as The Holy Sword transformed from a white anteater into the legend that he was and materialized in the gloved hand of The Demon Sword. It didn't even make sense that a sword would be able to wield a sword! And what about the provisions that he was now expected to withhold! His friends at the DWMA were going to be so angry with him when he returned with Excalibur. And they were going to be even angrier when they realized that he had no power over him.