Episode 27: Pre-Party Preparations

"Beautiful, isn't it?" Kid smiled.

"K-Kid-kun!"

"Hmm?" he turned around and found Blair standing there surprised. Speaking of surprises, she was wearing the same outfit she wore at their very first meeting on the Shibusen spires during the "Kishin's Defeat Party!" which, if memory serves correctly, ended up with her abducting him.

Anyway, the outfit was a frilly, raven-black dress with small bat-like wings protruding from the back. This, along with her blood-red hair, soulless yellow-eyes, and astonishing beauty, gave her a fearsome yet seductive aura.

"Oh, it's you," he said, annoyed.

"W-What are you doing here, Kid-kun? Aren't you supposed to pick up…Maka?" she almost cringed at the name.

"Maka? Ah, don't worry. I already sent her Chrona. I'm sure they'll be here any moment now."

"I see…" she sounded a bit disappointed for a moment before suddenly becoming all smiles and giggles as she backed away, "W-Well, I better go help with the party!" Turning around though, her smile faded as fast as it formed. Now that Chrona was added to the mix, she had to make a few troublesome adjustments to fit her into her plans. Truly, that Kid was such a tease…giving her so much work just to test her love for him. Well, regardless, she still smiled to herself, "I love a good challenge."

Seeing her disappear past a group of students and stagehands, Kid sighed. "Now, before being so rudely interrupted, where were we?" he said, turning about. However, instead of the beautiful view of the city, he was greeted with the familiar barren wasteland that was the inner depths of his soul.

"What are you planning?" asked the real Death the Kid as he stood defiantly before the imposter.

"Patience, dear brother, it won't be long before you and I will be free from each other," he replied, examining the heavy iron chains that bound the poor boy to a colossal pair of crosses. Fortunately, those things were at equal distances from his sides, giving him some measure of peace knowing that at least he was bound with perfect symmetry. Had it not, the effects would quite have been most maddening to say the least.

Meanwhile, at the Death Room, Azusa, Marie and the Shinigami were hard at work trying to locate the elusive witches.

"There it is!" gasped Marie, pointing to the exact moment when all of the witches simultaneously packed up and left. She had been reviewing the camera footages leading up to their disappearance and found that they all took their cue to leave at the exact time the 'Jingle Bells' song finished. Furthermore, this was just before Blair and the Shinigami made their entrance. "Coincidence or perhaps a distraction?" that question lingered in their minds as the Shinigami, who didn't take it too kindly at being used, immediately ordered her to be found and questioned.

However, summoning her via the intercom would tip her off and confronting her out in the open would cause quite the ruckus especially with international delegates roaming the city. So, to minimize any unwanted damage, casualty, or publicity, two of his best covert agents were sent to intercept her.

"Well, that's that," the Shinigami sighed, quickly turning back into his usual care-free self.

"That's it!" Azusa was shocked at the turn of events, "If Blair was planning something, then we have to abort the mission! For all we know, it could all be a trap for us!"

But, the Shinigami told her to calm down. He assured her that he already had a backup plan in place just in case something like this happened. Then, all of a sudden, Justin Law rushed in panting and calling his name. He tried to talk, but gasped for air instead.

"Here, drink some of this," the Shinigami took the large thermos off the table and poured him a cup of coffee.

"Thank you, Shinigami-sama," he was able to say after a few gulps.

"Are you alright? What happened?" asked Marie, seeing the bags under his eyes and the scrapes and bruises on his body.

"Training," he said, "but, something happened when I went for Excalibur!"

"Excalibur?" Azusa remembered the annoying little creature that visited them during the Kishin incident. Then, she realized something and looked at the Shinigami, "Wait! You're backup plan is to use that thing!"

"Well, more or less," he answered sheepishly, "Anyway, what happened? Do you have him?"

"I'm sorry, Shinigami-sama. But, when I got there…" he recounted how, on the way home after his one-on-one showdown with Soul, he took a slight detour to the lair of Excalibur as was earlier commanded by the Shinigami. As he trudged through the dank cave, he noted how strange it was that not a single fairy approached to greet him for they were known to be very friendly and accommodating. Alas, it was only at the end did he find out the reason for this.

He then described that some sort of plague or epidemic befell the fairy population. He couldn't believe his eyes when he saw them littered on the ground. They were in so much pain and agony as their bellies were swollen stiff. Many of them suffered from intense delusions as they were actually singing merrily despite the terrible affliction. When he tried asking them what had happened, they kept offering him something to drink instead. "It was horrible," he winced.

Hearing his tragic account, the Shinigami and the two death scythes looked at one another in utter disbelief. "So, in other words, the fairies were just wasted?" Marie concluded.

"It would seem so," the Shinigami sighed and then gave Justin a shinigami chop for wasting their time with such outlandish tales. (Although in his defense, exhaustion and naiveté did play a major role in his confusion.) Despite the misunderstanding, at least some good came out of it as Justin told them that one of the fairies mentioned something about the Shinigami's son taking their problem away with him.

"Kid-kun?" the father was quick to react, "are you sure?" However, he wasn't quick enough for exhaustion had finally caught up with the death scythe as he fell asleep on the floor.

Seeing as it was futile to press on for more information, the Shinigami ordered the two remaining weapons to hold down the fort as he decided to go straight to the source.